2000 ANNUAL REPORT

NASA’S PHYSICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH PROGRAM

National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration

George C. Marshall Space Flight Center

Marshall Space Flight Center, Alabama 35812
ON THE FRONT COVER

2000 ANNUAL REPORT

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A sample color spectrogram of

acceleration data obtained during 

a shuttle docking with the space 

station.

See page 51

Pictured here are computer models of

a nanotube and a fullerene, materials

with unique properties that formed

from carbon molecules.

See page 43

Researchers found these (falsecolor) spiral flames when they

ignited a spinning plastic disk

suspended horizontally in air. 

See page 27

Conducting research aboard the ISS

will enable world-class scientists

from a variety of discreet fields.

See page 54

Researchers working on fire safety

issues in space need to understand

the flammability characteristics of

materials that are commonly used

aboard spacecraft. 

See page 24

A new method for predicting 

the path of rivers relies on elevation data from satellites and 

mathematics. 

See page 33

An atom beam amplified: The left

image shows the shadow of the initial (or input) beam of atoms. The

right image shows the shadow of

the output beam.

See page 41

Watching molecules of apoferritin

come together to form a nucleus

reveals some interesting behavior. 

See page 12

Pictured here are red blood cells,

nerve cells, and tissue from the trachea and lungs.

See page 14
TABLE OF CONTENTS

2000 ANNUAL REPORT

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1 Cover images

1 Table of Contents

1 For More Information 

2 Introduction pg 1

3 Biotechnology pg 4

4 Combustion Science pg 22

5 Fluid Physics pg 28

6 Fundamental Physics pg 36

7 Materials Science pg 42

8 Acceleration Measurement pg 50

9 International Space Station pg 54

10 Ground-Based Microgravity Facilities pg 58

11 Outreach and Education pg 60

12 Program Resources pg 66

13 Appendices

A Grant Recipients pg 67

B Microgravity Experiment Hardware pg 98
ASA’s goal is to improve the quality of life on Earth by using ground- and space-based

research to promote new scientific and technological discoveries. The Microgravity Research

Program plays a vital role in our nation’s economic and general health by carefully selecting, funding, and supporting scientists across the country. It also serves as an important link in the international endeavors that are the hallmark of America’s space program, which is conducting business

better, cheaper, and faster through cooperative ventures and other streamlined practices.

By disseminating knowledge and transferring technology among private industries, universities, and other government agencies, the Microgravity Research Program continues to build

on a foundation of professional success, which is evidenced by the number of publications and

conferences attended, while reaching out to encompass the populace at large. Educational outreach

and technology transfer are among the program’s top goals, making the benefits of NASA’s

research available to the American public. Space shuttle and Mir research missions, as well as

experiments performed in short-duration microgravity facilities, are yielding new understandings

about our world and the universe around us, while paving the way for long-duration microgravity

science on the International Space Station.

Under the direction of the new Biological and Physical Research Enterprise and the

Physical Sciences Division, the program in microgravity research will continue to advance cuttingedge research led by the best scientists from across the nation. For more information about the new

enterprise and ongoing microgravity research, use the following contact information:

The Physical Sciences Division

NASA Headquarters

300 E Street, S.W.

Washington, DC 20546-0001

Phone: (202) 358-1490

Fax: (202) 358-3091

World Wide Web addresses: 

http://spaceresearch.nasa.gov

http://microgravity.hq.nasa.gov

http://microgravity.msfc.nasa.gov

FOR MORE INFORMATION

2000 ANNUAL REPORT

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INTRODUCTION

2000 ANNUAL REPORT

t the close of fiscal year 2000, the Office of Life

and Microgravity Sciences and Applications became the

Office of Biological and Physical Research under the

newly formed Biological and Physical Research

Enterprise (BPRE). This organizational restructuring

reflects the increasing recognition of the importance of

the scientific research role played by the nascent

International Space Station (ISS) and of the leadership

responsibility that this new research enterprise must

carry out. Within this new NASA research enterprise, the

Microgravity Research Division (MRD) remains an integral unit, with a change of name. The MRD is now the

Physical Sciences Research Division (PSRD). The

BPRE, which will continue to sponsor cutting-edge interdisciplinary research, has marked the year 2000 by introducing new programs such as biomolecular physics and

chemistry, nanoscience, and advanced applications of

biotechnology on Earth.

This division’s principal objectives are to carry

out multidisciplinary basic research, enabled by the

space environment, to accomplish NASA’s goal of

advancing and communicating knowledge and to develop a rigorous cross-disciplinary scientific capability,

bridging physical sciences and biology to address

NASA’s human and robotic space exploration goals.

Further, the division is in the process of establishing the

ISS facilities as unique on-orbit science laboratories that

will target scientific and technological issues of high significance.

In 2000, the program has continued to build an

outstanding peer-reviewed research program by selecting

new flight and ground-based investigations in the disciplines of fundamental physics (41 tasks) and combustion

research (26 tasks). The biotechnology, materials science, and fluid physics disciplines will issue proposal

calls in 2001. A memorandum of understanding has been

signed between NASA and the National Cancer Institute

for collaboration on advanced research in ground-breaking biomolecular systems technology targeting distributed and miniaturized medical sensors to detect early

signs of cancer and any negative physiological impact of

long-term exposure to the space environment. A joint

announcement of opportunity will solicit research proposals early in 2001 for awards to be made in fall 2001.

The ground-based research program has continued to increase its productivity through generating a

large number of peer-reviewed publications and by

organizing and hosting workshops in fluid physics, fundamental physics, and materials science. The division

has begun a reassessment of the planned ISS flight program in which the priority of the various discipline-dedicated ISS research facilities under development will be

addressed. One of the objectives has been to implement

the recommendations contained in the National Research

Council report on Future Biotechnology Research on the

International Space Station. Other major motivations

have been to enhance the interdisciplinary research component of the program and to optimize the productivity

of planned on-orbit research facilities.

This year was a year of research discipline

expansion, strategic replanning, and managerial restructuring to build an essential component of a new NASA

research enterprise. We believe that we have the opportunity to mold a cutting-edge, cross-disciplinary research

program that will stand out among all federal research

agencies and will bring to fruition the promises of the

microgravity environment.

— Eugene Trinh

Director, Physical Sciences Division

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INTRODUCTION

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Table 1 — Microgravity Research Program Overview

1998 1999 2000

Research tasks 465 485 584

Principal investigators 377 409 455

Co-Investigators 446 487 667

FY budget ($ in millions) 100.4 113.7 108.7

Table 2 — Program Bibliographic Listings

1998 1999 2000

Journal articles 683 905 904

Presentations 823 962 1,062

Proceeding papers 305 350 422

NASA technical briefs 31 30 13

Books/chapters 26 33 50

Total 1,868 2,280 2,451

Table 3 — Grant Statistics

1998 1999 2000

Students funded 853 969 1,146

Degrees granted 277 368 457

Patents applied for 8 26 22

Table 4 — Glenn Research Center Task Summary

1998 1999 2000

Ground-based 152 163 189

Flight program 44 43 55

Total 196 206 244

Table 5 — Jet Propulsion Laboratory Task Summary

1998 1999 2000

Ground-based 42 40 40

Flight program 9 9 9

Total 51 49 49 

Table 6 — Johnson Space Center Task Summary

1998 1999 2000

Ground-based 37 55 56

Flight program 1 2 2

Total 38 57 58

Table 7 — Marshall Space Flight Center Task Summary

1998 1999 2000

Ground-based 127 135 180

Flight program 39 39 46

Total 166 174 226
INTRODUCTION

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*Includes some investigations that may not have received FY00 funds.

*886 Investigations funded in

42 States and the District of Columbia

OFFICE OF BIOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL RESEARCH (OBPR)

FY00 Total Investigations by State

13

6

17

2

2

1

157

6

4

1

9

20

13

12

2

117

1

8

49

9 28

15

26

3

7 3 35

2 7

4

16 13

MA72

4

14

41

50

DC7

MD39

DE5

NJ27

CT14

R15
id you ever stop to consider that some of

the foods in your refrigerator are products of

biotechnology? Biotechnology is the application of

knowledge concerning biological systems to the

production of consumer goods and services. Foods

like cheese, yogurt, and beer are all products of

biotechnology in its most basic form — harnessing

existing biological processes such as bacterial 

fermentation to produce goods for human 

consumption.

The term biotechnology probably also

brings to mind genetically engineered bacteria,

plants, and animals. It is this facet of biotechnology

that allows farmers to plant crops that can

withstand certain herbicides or diseases, and helps

researchers to develop bacteria that can produce

human insulin drugs to dissolve blood clots, 

reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke. 

Although most biotechnology research benefits the medical and agricultural fields, this kind of

work also supports a broad range of manufacturing

industries. Processes that use biological components

or that mimic biological systems can be used for a

variety of purposes, including creating new materials, removing contaminants, and improving the 

efficiency of chemical reactions. For example,

microbes are used to process sewage at city 

wastewater treatment plants, as well as to produce

alcohol-based fuels for motorized vehicles. Bacteria

have been discovered that can break down oil and

petroleum, and researchers have genetically altered

these bacteria to create microbes that can feed on oil

slicks. 

Biotechnology research focuses on how

organisms and their components function. Large

organisms are composed of systems of organs. If

you look in the mirror, you can see the largest organ

in the human body — the skin. The skin and other

organs consist of tissues specialized to perform 

2000 ANNUAL REPORT

OVERVIEW

BIOTECHNOLOGY

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Humans have harnessed biotechnology in its most basic

forms to produce goods such as bread, cheese, and wine

for human consumption.

D
2000 ANNUAL REPORT

specific functions in the body. These tissues in turn

are made up of a smaller structure — the cell. How

the cell functions in a particular tissue is determined

by its molecular components. Cells contain billions

of biological macromolecules, which are much larger and more complex than nonbiological molecules.

The unique chemical traits of these molecules determine how a cell differentiates to become part of a

particular type of tissue and, ultimately, how an

organism grows, lives, and dies.

The microgravity environment of space provides special advantages to biotechnology researchers

studying cell growth and biological molecules.

NASA’s microgravity biotechnology program, 

therefore, supports research in two main areas:

macromolecular biotechnology, overseen by

Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville,

Alabama; and cell science, overseen by

Johnson Space Center in Houston,

Texas. The program’s contributions to

understanding the foundations of life at

the molecular and cellular levels may

enable the development of new drugs

and other therapies for disease and

dysfunction, as well as measures

to safely send humans into space

for extended time periods.

OVERVIEW BIOTECHNOLOGY

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Biotechnology also allows people to use nature to help solve environmental problems. Microbes are used to process sewage, and scientists

have genetically altered bacteria to create microbes that will feed on

oil slicks.

Biotechnological advances have allowed

farmers to plant agricultural crops that are

more productive, resistant to disease, and

able to withstand the herbicides used to

control unwanted plants.
here are tens of thousands of biological

macromolecules at work in the human body. These

molecules, mostly proteins and nucleic acids,

perform or regulate all functions that maintain life.

Proteins, for example, transport oxygen and chemicals in the blood, form major components of muscle

and skin, and aid in fighting infection (antibodies

are proteins). Enzymes, which are a class of proteins,

catalyze specific chemical reactions in cells and

control metabolic pathways, which are a series of

chemical reactions that together perform one or

more important functions, like the conversion of

sugar to energy. 

The best-known examples of nucleic acids

are ribonucleic acid (RNA) and deoxyribonucleic

acid (DNA). Nucleotides, or subunits of nucleic

acids, exist in a particular order along the DNA

molecule. Each “unit” of three nucleotides along a

strand of DNA forms a “letter” of the genetic code,

with the letters specifying particular amino acids,

the building blocks of proteins. So each section of

the genetic code actually specifies the production of

a specific protein, which in turn supports the maintenance of life at the cellular and whole-organism

levels. Small differences in genetic codes can result

in major differences within and between

organisms. 

To unlock some of the mysteries

about how a biological molecule carries

out its role, scientists need knowledge of

the molecule’s structure. A biological molecule’s shape and chemical components

determine the types of other molecules

with which it can interact. Proteins have

active sites that allow them to “fit” with

other molecules to perform a specific

function. Active sites on proteins, when

inappropriately triggered, can cause

disease or unwanted functions. Drug

designers seek knowledge of these sites so

they can develop drugs to block the sites

or otherwise render them inactive.

Information about molecular

structure is important to scientists in other

fields as well. Genetic engineers use this

information to chemically alter genetic codes to

make bacteria, plants, or fungi with desirable properties, such as yeast that has been altered to produce

insulin. Knowledge of molecular structure

2000 ANNUAL REPORT

OVERVIEW MACROMOLECULAR BIOTECHNOLOGY

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Deoxyribonucleic acid — DNA — carries all the genetic information that allows

cells to make proteins and other biological molecules that are necessary to 

maintain life.

X-ray crystallography is the most commonly used method for

studying the structure of biological molecules. X-rays diffracted

from a well-ordered protein crystal create sharp patterns of scattered light on film. Computer analysis of these patterns can then

be used to generate a model of a protein molecule.

T
2000 ANNUAL REPORT

is also the key to understanding how some

species survive and even thrive in extreme conditions like the arctic or in volcanic vents. And

because some biological molecules, such as

enzymes, catalyze processes, understanding their

structure may enable their use as miniature manufacturing plants to process materials — the ultimate

in nanotechnology.

X-ray crystallography is the most common

method by which scientists study the structure of

biological molecules. Crystals are formed of the

molecule of interest, and X-rays are passed through

the single crystal at various angles. The resulting

diffraction patterns are analyzed by using computers

to estimate the size, shape, and structure of the

molecule. Flawed crystals will yield a blurry diffraction pattern, whereas a well-ordered crystal will

yield a sharp diffraction pattern and thus useful

information about the structure of the crystal. 

A microgravity environment reduces the

effects of fluid flows and sedimentation, which can

affect the crystal growth process and the quality of 

the crystal. Crystals are grown in solution. When a

crystal begins to form, molecules diffuse from the

solution around the crystal to join the growing crystal lattice. As a result, the solution in the immediate

vicinity of the crystal has a lower concentration than

the remainder of the solution and therefore has a

lower density. This difference in density creates

currents next to the growing crystal. Such fluid

flows can alter the orientation and position of the

biological molecules as they add to the crystal

lattice, thereby creating disorder in the crystal. 

Likewise, sedimentation, another effect of

gravity, can result in poor-quality crystals. When

crystals grow to a size that cannot be supported by

suspension in the drop of solution in which the 

crystals are forming, then the crystals will drift to

the bottom of the drop. There they may settle on top

of other crystals and grow into those adjacent

crystals. X-ray crystallography requires single

crystals, and thus sedimentation can render potentially high-quality crystals unusable. In the

microgravity environment of low Earth orbit, the

effects of sedimentation and fluid flow are nearly

eliminated, and the conditions for growing

diffraction-quality crystals are improved.

Ground-based research in molecular science

includes crystallization of biological macromolecules

(including analysis of crystals and methods to

control crystal quality); the development of

biomaterials, which are substances that are synthetic

or natural in origin that can be used to treat,

augment, or replace a tissue, organ, or function of

the body; research on separation technology; and

biologically oriented nanotechnology.

OVERVIEW MACROMOLECULAR BIOTECHNOLOGY

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All of the protein and virus crystals depicted in this collage

were successfully grown in space and are suitable for X-ray

diffraction analysis.

Large, better structured insulin crystals grown in

microgravity (left) reveal their vital form and

function to crystallographers and to scientists

seeking better treatments for diabetic patients. 

The same information would be almost impossible

to obtain from the smaller, less well-ordered

insulin crystals grown on Earth (right).
Program Summary

Following the release in 2000 of the National

Research Council’s (NRC’s) report, Future Biotechnology

Research on the International Space Station, the biotechnology program implemented the Structural Biology Initiative to

enact the recommendations of the NRC panel. Goals of the initiative are to accelerate the process by which investigators get

their research projects to flight, to decrease the time interval

between developing a research idea and obtaining data, and to

match the speed of the ground-based research process. 

To achieve these goals, the biotechnology program

will integrate new hardware for use on the International Space

Station (ISS) that will allow increased sample throughput,

provide video microscopy of crystallization experiments, allow

new experiments to be set up and manipulated from the

ground, and allow cryocooling (cooling to extremely low

temperatures) of crystals grown in orbit. The program will also

concentrate on enabling iterative biological crystallization,

which will allow researchers to conduct several rounds of

experiments on the ISS rather than the one round that is

possible now. Both of these initiatives will maximize the

use of the microgravity environment for structural

biology investigations.

Also in response to the NRC panel, the biotechnology

program began developing and testing an associate investigator program, which will accommodate both large-scale

research projects funded by NASA’s peer-reviewed grant

process and small-scale ad-hoc investigations. An external,

nonadvocate panel will be used to peer-review and prioritize

experiments and to make decisions in a timely manner to

better match the pace of ground-based biotechnology research.

This program will provide the scientific community with one

well-advertised point of contact for access to spaceflight

experiments. To obtain information on the associate investigator program, visit http://crystal.nasa.gov/technical/flight_opp.

html on the World Wide Web (WWW).

The NASA Research Announcement (NRA) for

macromolecular and cellular biotechnology that was released

in August 2000 directly addressed the recommendations

contained in the NRC report. Research proposals in a number

of areas, detailed in the following paragraphs, were solicited

from scientists.

Proposals were sought for structural biology research

to produce crystals of macromolecular assemblies with important implications for cutting-edge biology problems, as recommended by the NRC. Systems that meet the criteria set forth in

the NRA include membrane proteins, molecular motors, and

biopolymer synthetic machinery. The NRC report described all

of these systems as elaborate and fragile, which makes them

difficult to crystallize except under optimal conditions. In

these cases, microgravity conditions might improve the quality

of the crystals enough to allow determination of key structures. 

Also included were macromolecular systems for

which research efforts have already been undertaken but which

have presented challenges for crystallization.

In the area of crystallization studies and technologies,

proposals were invited to support the research described in the

preceding paragraph with emphasis on providing a framework

for understanding microgravity crystallization results, optimizing crystal growth conditions, characterizing crystal defect formation and the relationship between defect formation and

crystal growth, and providing a more rational approach to the

growth of macromolecular crystals. 

NASA also invited proposals for developing technologies that seek to improve macromolecular crystallization

throughput for structural biology and proteomics research on

the ISS. Proteomics is the identification and study of proteins

in the body, genes that code for particular proteins,

protein-protein interactions, and the role of proteins in such

activities as transmitting disease. Research for improving

throughput includes automated crystal growth technologies,

screening methods, and cryopreservation techniques.

In the area of biological nanotechnology, NASA

sought research proposals for the development of molecular-sized

sensors, signalers, and receptors; nanometer-scale biomaterials; and technologies to manipulate biomolecules to form

useful devices or nanometer-scale structures. Nanotechnology research is important because it can be used to

reduce experiments’ weight, volume, and need for electrical

power, all limiting factors during space missions. 

Research solicited in the area of biomolecular

self-assembling materials includes polymer biosynthesis,

self-assembled monolayers and multilayers, decorated

membranes, mesoscopic organized structures, and

biomineralization. Research in this area combines molecular

biology, physical sciences, and materials engineering. Biomolecular materials have the capability of self-assembling

without external intervention, and understanding the processes

involved in such self-assembly could lead to the development

of new processes and materials with significant technological

impact, including applications in life support to enable humans

to live and work permanently in space, as well as other Human

Exploration and Development of Space (HEDS) goals.

Finally, in the area of structural protein-based

materials, NASA solicited proposals for the production of

protein-based materials or the isolation, in useable form, of

such materials from cells. Collagen, keratin, and silk are

examples of structural proteins, and they are also characterized

by their ability to self-assemble. Researchers may be able to

incorporate novel properties in such materials by genetically

engineering the sequences or incorporating modular

components from other proteins. Because these materials

could be produced by using recombinant DNA technology, it is

possible to create a uniform and controllable architecture

2000 ANNUAL REPORT

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2000 ANNUAL REPORT

of the resulting material. Such biomaterials could also support

HEDS goals.

Notices of intent for this NRA were due on

September 6, 2000, and 225 proposals were received by the

October 27, 2000, due date. NASA plans to announce selections in spring 2001, with grants and contracts to be awarded

shortly thereafter. For additional information on the NRA

and selections, visit http://research.hq.nasa.gov/code_u/nra/

current/NRA-00-HEDS-03/index.html on the WWW.

The Eighth International Conference on

Crystallization of Biological Macromolecules was held May

14–19, 2000, in Sandestin, Florida. The meeting was

co-chaired by NASA Principal Investigators (PIs) Lawrence

DeLucas, director of the Center for Macromolecular

Crystallization at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, and

Alexander Chernov, of the Universities Space Research

Association and Marshall Space Flight Center. Craig Kundrot,

biotechnology discipline scientist, presented a talk on NASAsponsored research at this meeting. Kundrot discussed the

character and scope of NASA’s macromolecular crystal growth

program, as well as the NRC recommendations, and provided

information on the types of crystals that had been grown in

space, the facilities available for macromolecular biotechnology research on the ISS, and the types of experiments that were

being performed. 

Kundrot concluded his talk with a description of the

ways in which researchers could participate in the macromolecular biotechnology program, including information on the

most current NRAs and the Structural Biology Initiative. The

initiative supports an effort to produce crystals of important

biological macromolecules both on the ground and in microgravity in order to evaluate the efficacy of using the

microgravity environment of low Earth orbit to grow such

crystals.

The macromolecular biotechnology program sponsored 20 ground-based and eight flight-based researchers in

fiscal year (FY) 2000. A listing of all ongoing biotechnology

research projects, along with the names of the investigators

conducting the research, is provided in the Appendix.

Flight Experiments

Exciting progress on flight projects was made in FY

2000, with one shuttle flight and one ISS research increment

carrying experiments from the macromolecular biotechnology

program. Significant milestones were also reached in the

development of ISS experiment hardware and in the analysis

of crystals grown during the NASA shuttle/Mir program.

The space shuttle Atlantis (STS-101) was launched on

May 19, 2000, with 504 samples of 10 varieties of proteins

from eight researchers. The samples were contained in a

Biotechnology Ambient Generic Protein Crystallization

Apparatus for Microgravity (PCAM). The basic PCAM is a

self-contained crystal growth apparatus that consists of a

plastic tray containing seven sample wells. The sample wells,

which each hold a drop of protein solution, are surrounded by

a “moat” of absorbent material. The wells are filled prior to

launch and sealed with rubber to prevent evaporation and

subsequent crystal formation before launch. 

Nine plastic trays can be loaded into one PCAM

cylinder, and six cylinders can be carried in a temperature-controlled locker. Once in orbit, shuttle crewmembers use

a wrench to retract metal cams that hold the rubber seals in

place, thereby allowing the liquid to evaporate from the protein solution samples and starting the crystallization process.

Near the end of the mission, crewmembers crank the cams

back into place to reseal the sample wells before returning

to Earth. 

Crystals of albumin, E. coli Gro EL, Eco R1

Endonuclease-DNA complex, lysozyme, and pectate lyase

large enough to generate good results from X-ray diffraction

were produced during this PCAM experiment (see Table 8).

Additionally, hemoglobin C, which did not develop crystals on

STS-95, produced large crystals on STS-101. On the basis of

estimates of the sizes of crystals at unloading, several other

crystals, including those of pectate lyase and S-layer protein

from Bacillus sphaericus, appeared to have grown larger under

microgravity conditions than had previously been attained

under the normal-gravity conditions on Earth. Researchers are

currently evaluating the crystals that were obtained from the

proteins flown on STS-101, a process that can take months.

NASA PI Alexander McPherson, of the University of

California, Irvine, led an Enhanced Dewar Program conducted

on the ISS during FY 2000. The Enhanced Gaseous Nitrogen

Dewar (EGN) is essentially a Thermos in which tubes of flashfrozen biomolecular samples are bundled. The dewar is filled

with liquid nitrogen, which maintains the samples in a frozen

state prior to arrival in orbit. The enhanced version of the

dewar includes devices for recording and storing temperature

data from inside the dewar. Once the liquid nitrogen evaporates, the crystallization process begins. 

Crystallization may be achieved in two ways. In batch

samples, biological macromolecules are mixed in a supersaturated solution from which, after thawing, crystals can be

expected to form over time. In liquid-liquid diffusion samples,

the material to be crystallized and the precipitant solutions,

frozen separately, thaw and diffuse with each other, resulting

in crystal formation across the liquid-liquid interface. Under

microgravity conditions, crystals of the biomolecular materials

form without interference from the container, other crystals, or

turbulent flows.

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Because the EGN allows hundreds of samples to be

flown at once, researchers can experiment with a variety of

conditions to try to determine which conditions will produce

the most useful crystals for further analysis. That valuable

information can then be used to optimize crystal growth during

future protein crystal growth experiments aboard the ISS. 

The space shuttle Atlantis (STS-106), which launched

on September 8, 2000, carried an EGN dewar experiment with

473 samples of 21 different proteins to the ISS. Space shuttle

Discovery (STS-92) returned the EGN samples to Earth on

October 24, 2000. Middle and high school students

from Alabama, California, Florida, and Tennessee prepared

150 of the samples for this first EGN experiment aboard the

ISS. Nine different proteins were successfully crystallized in

the EGN by the PIs and students. Several additional macromolecules were also crystallized by guest investigators. The

samples are currently undergoing analysis by X-ray diffraction

and atomic force microscopy. For the first time, an excellent

recording of the temperature inside the dewar during the entire

course of the mission was obtained.

Many biotechnology experiments will make use of

the EXpedite PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station

(EXPRESS) rack system on the ISS, which features

standardized hardware interfaces to enable the integration of

payloads, as well as removable experiment subracks that can

be exchanged in and out of the EXPRESS racks as needed.

One of these subracks is the Single Thermal Enclosure System

(STES), which can house several types of equipment used to

grow biological crystals in microgravity, including the PCAM,

which is scheduled to be carried to the ISS on the STS-100

mission early in 2001. On later ISS research increments, STES

will accommodate two other types of crystallization

equipment, the Second-generation Vapor Diffusion Apparatus

and the Diffusion-Controlled Crystallization Apparatus for

Microgravity (DCAM).

A new Dynamically Controlled Protein Crystal

Growth (DCPCG) system will allow researchers to access and

control the crystallization process aboard the ISS. This system

uses controlled dehydration or temperature as a function of

time to control crystal growth. The DCPCG system is made of

three interfacing lockers: the first locker accommodates crystal

growth by allowing evaporation from protein solutions that are

held at a constant temperature, the second locker allows crystal

growth from a supersaturated solution, and the third locker

supplies a subsystem that provides an integral link for nearly

immediate experiment evaluation. The system permits

ground-to-spacecraft communication, allows video capture of

experiments for later evaluation, and stores in-orbit data. The

DCPCG system also allows experiment profiles to be

controlled from the ground so that several rounds of

experiments can be done, with parameters for subsequent

experiments being adjustable in response to results from

preceding experiments.

PI Alexander McPherson worked on the Observable

Protein Crystal Growth Apparatus (OPCGA) during FY 2000.

The objective for the OPCGA is to develop a platform that

will allow direct observation of crystal growth and provide

detailed information of the concentration gradient around the

growing crystal. During FY 2000, a preliminary design review

was completed and a critical design review was initiated.

2000 ANNUAL REPORT

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Students from Memphis, Tennessee,

prepare samples at the University of

Alabama for the first protein crystal

growth experiments to be performed

aboard the International Space Station.
2000 ANNUAL REPORT

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Highlights

The Birth of a Crystal

If you could witness the beginning of a process that has long been

theorized but never seen, you might be

surprised by what you saw. This is just

what happened to PI Peter Vekilov, at

the University of Alabama, Huntsville,

and his team of researchers.

Vekilov’s team studies protein

solutions as they change from liquids to

crystalline solids. They want to know if

the protein molecules in solution interact

with one another, and if so, what kinetics

and thermodynamics are involved and

what forces control those interactions.

They also study nucleation, the

beginning stage of crystallization. It is

important to understand the process of

nucleation because it sets the stage for

crystal growth — it can determine the

rate of crystal growth, the number of

crystals that will be formed, and the

quality and size of the crystals. 

The formation of a crystal starts

when a small number of molecules

bump into each other and their energy is

such that it is more favorable for them to

come together than to stay apart. These

molecules create a new surface in the

protein solution, and to continue

growing, that surface requires energy. If

energy is added, then the structure can

continue to attract other molecules to

form a crystal. Thus, for nucleation to

occur, this surface energy barrier must

be overcome.

Observing nucleation is made

difficult by the small size of the molecules, the speed at which nucleation

occurs, and the ability to pinpoint

exactly where in the solution nucleation

will occur. 

Vekilov and his team studied

apoferritin, a protein precursor to

ferritin, the protein that stores iron in the

body and releases it in a controlled

fashion. Apoferritin is a relatively large

molecule, approximately 130 angstroms

long (a molecule of water is about 2

angstroms long). To locate the site of

nucleation, the researchers waited for the

nuclei to attach to the bottom of the container holding the protein solution.

Vekilov and Co-Investigator

Siu-Tung Yau used atomic force

microscopy to create subatomic

sequence images showing the behavior

of individual molecules as they attach

and detach from a crystal or crystalline

nucleus. An atomic force microscope has

a very sharp tip and a spring mechanism

that acts like a cantilever. It works by

measuring how much force is pressing

Table 8: Proteins Successfully Crystallized Aboard STS-101

Protein Description/Use

Serum albumin The most abundant blood serum protein; regulates blood pressure and transports ions,

metabolites, and therapeutic drugs.

E. coli Gro EL One of a class of proteins that assist in making proteins in a cell by folding them into

their correct three-dimensional structure.

Eco R1 Endonuclease-DNA complex An enzyme that cleaves the ends of the DNA sites where they are bound and thus provides information on how proteins discriminate between different DNA sequences.

Lysozyme Protein isolated from chicken egg white; the first enzyme ever characterized by X-ray

crystallography; functions as a bacteriostatic enzyme by degrading bacterial cell walls;

used as an excellent model system for better understanding parameters involved in

microgravity crystal growth experiments.

Pectate lyase Protein secreted by plant pathogenic microbes that initiates soft-rot diseases by attacking the pectate component of the plant cell wall.

Hemoglobin C The second most common hemoglobin (the iron-containing molecule in red blood cells

that carries oxygen) variant found in the United States next to sickle hemoglobin.

S-layer protein from Bacillus sphaericusProtein that readily forms two-dimensional crystals which can be used in a variety of

nanotechnology applications (e.g., biosensor development).

PI Peter Vekilov and his research team studied the

mechanism of formation of apoferritin crystals

using atomic force microscopy in a ground-based

research study. The apoferritin crystal in this

photo was grown under microgravity conditions.

Apoferritin is the protein precursor to ferritin, the

protein that stores iron in the body and releases it

in a controlled fashion.
against the tip as the tip passes over the

surface to which the crystal nuclei are

attached. The deflection of the tip allows

the nuclei to be “seen” by the microscope.

Molecules enter and leave the crystal

nucleus every two or three seconds,

which is within the observation capability

of an atomic force microscope.

What Vekilov and his research

team discovered was that crystal

growth is not a linear process. Rather,

molecules attach and detach from the

growing crystal, with crystal growth

occurring when attachment events

occur more often than detachment

events. This discovery allows

researchers to directly measure

nucleation rates in the smallest of

aggregates. 

Another surprising discovery

was that the crystal nucleus for

apoferritin was not spherical, which

would be the most energy-efficient

shape for crystal formation. Apoferritin

nuclei actually had a quasiplanar, or

raft-like, shape. The larger surface

area of the quasiplanar form requires

greater energy input for crystallization

to occur, and thus crystal growth

occurs much more slowly than it

would if the nuclei were spherical. 

Vekilov’s team has published

their work in several recent articles,

among them “Quasi-Planar Nucleus

Formation in Apoferritin

Crystallization,” Nature, 406: 494–7,

August 3, 2000; and “Control of

Protein Crystal Nucleation Around

the Metastable Liquid-Liquid Phase

Boundary,” Proceedings of the

National Academy of Sciences,

97(12): 6277–81, June 6, 2000.

Unraveling the DNA Package

When people think of cells and

their genetic material, they tend to

think small. The nucleus of a cell,

which houses DNA, averages somewhere between 3 and 25 microns in

diameter. Yet, the total length of

human DNA is a little over a meter.

Such a great amount of DNA can be

contained in such a small package as

the nucleus because of intricate folding

of the DNA molecule.

This folding is enabled by the

way in which the DNA is grouped

together with protein molecules. The

structure is very similar to beads on a

string. The double helix of DNA is the

string, which wraps around groups of 

eight proteins called histones. Each of

these groupings, called a nucleosome, is

a bead, and the nucleosomes are

connected by lengths of DNA. This

structure allows the molecule to fold and

coil into strands called chromatin and

then ultimately coil into loops, which

make up a chromosome. There are 23

chromosomes in a single cell nucleus;

the total number of loops in a nucleus is

about 50,000. 

Nucleosomes, or the beads on

the DNA string, are of particular interest

to scientists. In addition to their DNA

packing function, nucleosomes are

strongly involved in the gene expression

mechanisms that allow only selected

regions of the immense DNA molecule

to be read out as a result of specific

signaling processes. Packaging DNA

functions and supporting gene

expression

functions

require

approximately 25

million

nucleosomes in

each

human cell

nucleus.

2000 ANNUAL REPORT

MACROMOLECULAR BIOTECHNOLOGY

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Fitting the long DNA molecule into a cell nucleus is

accomplished by an intricate folding mechanism.

The basic structure that allows folding resembles

beads on a string. This illustration depicts the

DNA — the “string” — wrapped around a group

of eight histones to form a “bead,” which is

called a nucleosome.

A crystal of the histone octamer

that forms the nucleosome core

particle around which the DNA

molecule is wound to enable the

molecule to fit in a cell nucleus.

Watching molecules of apoferritin come together to

form a nucleus reveals some interesting behavior. In this

series of images, researchers observed clusters of four

molecules at the corners of a “diamond” (top). As more

molecules attach to the cluster, they arrange themselves

into rods (second from top), and a raft-like configuration

of molecules forms the critical nucleus (third from top),

suggesting that crystal growth is much slower than it

could be were the molecules arranged in a more compact formation. In the final image, a crystallite consisting of three layers containing approximately 60 – 70

molecules each is formed. Atomic force microscopy

made possible visualization of the nucleation process for

the first time.

DNA H1 histone

Nucleosome

Core of 8 Histone Molecules

NUCLEOSOME
2000 ANNUAL REPORT

PI Gerard Bunick, of Oak

Ridge National Laboratory, has obtained

the most detailed structure to date of the

nucleosome. Bunick grew crystals of the

nucleosome core particle on several

shuttle/Mir flights, and on STS-81 in

1997, he obtained large crystals suitable

for X-ray diffraction analysis. These

space-grown crystals provided 40

percent more data than the best Earthgrown crystals. With them, Bunick was

able to obtain a diffraction resolution of

2.5 angstroms (one ten-billionth of a

meter), which is better than the

diffraction limit for the best available

Earth-grown crystals in Bunick’s laboratory

— approximately 2.8 angstroms. 

Interestingly, the use of a single

space-grown crystal at 2.5-angstrom

diffraction resolution revealed more

detailed features than another research

group’s use of 27 Earth-grown crystals

of a similar nucleosome core particle at

2.0-angstrom resolution. Because the

2.0-angstrom diffraction limit should

have been able to provide 95 percent

more data when compared to a 2.5-

angstrom diffraction limit, this result

provides evidence that crystals grown in

a microgravity environment have features that enable them to reveal more

structural information than would be

expected on the basis of increased

diffraction resolution alone.

Bunick’s work, “Asymmetries

in the Nucleosome Core Particle at 2.5-

Angstrom Resolution,” was featured on

the cover of Acta Crystallographica,

D56(12): 1513–34, December 2000.

Hydrogen Atoms Unmasked

About one-half of the atoms

that make up a protein are hydrogen

atoms, and they remain unseen even by

the most common method for studying

the structure of proteins, X-ray crystallography. In this technique, protein

crystals are bombarded with X-rays,

which are then diffracted from the

electron clouds of the individual atoms

within the protein crystal to form a

pattern from which the structure of the

protein can be determined. But it isn’t a

complete picture of the structure,

because hydrogen atoms have very little

electron density and so go undetected by

X-ray diffraction. In contrast, when a

protein crystal is bombarded with

neutrons, the neutrons interact with the

nuclei of the protein crystal atoms. The

diffraction pattern of the neutrons then

allows the structure of the protein,

including the positions of the hydrogen

atoms, to be determined.

The bonding of hydrogen atoms

due to mutual attraction is crucial to

protein structure and activity, and thus

the capability to determine the positions

of hydrogen atoms within a protein can

provide important insights into the

structure and potential reactivity of the

protein, because structure has a bearing

on a protein’s activity. Neutron

diffraction can be used to determine the

positions of hydrogen “bridges,” which

are hydrogen atoms that connect two

parts of a structure as a result of their

mutual attraction; the conformations of

specific hydrogen-containing sections of

the molecule; the degree of protection of

hydrogen atoms within the protein structure, which affects the ability of the

hydrogen atom to undergo a chemical

reaction; or the orientations of

hydrogen-containing side chains. However,

neutron diffraction techniques are not

without disadvantages. Although a complete structural analysis can be made

using a single crystal, that crystal must

be much larger than crystals that are

suitable for X-ray analysis.

Flight PI Daniel Carter, of New

Century Pharmaceuticals, and CoInvestigators Dean Myles, of the Institut

Laue-Langevin, in France, and Jean-Paul

Declerq, of the Université Catholique de

Louvain, in Belgium, grew such a crystal

of monoclinic lysozyme in the DCAM on

STS-89 as part of the NASA shuttle/Mir

program. Using this crystal and neutron

diffraction at the Institut Laue-Langevin,

they were able to determine the structure

of the protein, delineating many of the

waters and exchangeable hydrogens

within the lysozyme crystal. This is one

of the few cases in which neutron

diffraction has been used to solve a

protein structure.

The structures of ferritin, a

protein that stores iron and releases it in

a controlled fashion, and apoferritin, a

protein precursor to ferritin, are also

being studied by neutron diffraction.

When these studies are completed, the

results will represent the largest protein

structure determined to date by neutron

diffraction.

Carter, Myles, and Declerq

described their work in “Neutron

Structure of Monoclinic Lysozyme

Crystals Produced in Microgravity,”

which was submitted to the Journal of

Crystal Growth to be published in

summer 2001.

MACROMOLECULAR BIOTECHNOLOGY

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This computerized rendering of

the nucleosome core particle

was developed from X-ray

crystallographic data obtained

on space-grown crystals. The

center “ribbon” structure shows

the histone octamer, with the

DNA molecule wrapped around

the outside.

Researchers used neutron diffraction to

determine the structure of lysozyme,

including the positions of hydrogen atoms,

by analyzing a lysozyme crystal similar to

the one shown here. This was one of the

few cases in which neutron diffraction has

been used to solve a protein structure.
ore than 70 years ago,

cellular biologist E. B. Wilson

wrote in his book, The Cell in

Development and Heredity, that

“the key to every biological

problem must finally be sought

in the cell.” All living creatures

are made of cells — small membrane-bound compartments filled

with a concentrated water-based

solution of chemicals. The simplest forms of life are solitary

cells that propagate by dividing

in two. More complex organisms such as humans are like

cellular cities in which groups

of cells perform specialized

functions and are linked by intricate communication

systems. Cells occupy a halfway point on the scale

of biological complexity. Scientists study cells to try

to understand their molecular makeup and to learn

about how they cooperate to enable a complex

organism to function.

More than 200 types of cells make up the

human body. They are assembled into a variety of

tissues, such as skin, bone, and muscle. Most tissues

contain a mixture of cell types. Cells are small and

complex — a typical animal cell is about five times

smaller than the smallest visible particle, and it contains all the molecules necessary to enable an organism to survive and reproduce itself. A cell’s small

size makes it difficult for scientists to see its structure, to discover its molecular composition,

and especially to find out how its various

components function. 

Differentiated cells perform specialized

functions. For example, a heart muscle cell looks

different from and performs different functions than

a nerve cell. Specialized cells interact and communicate with one another, setting up signals to govern

the character of each cell according to its place in

the structure as a whole. 

What can be learned about cells depends on

the available tools. Culturing (growing) cells is one

of the most basic techniques used by medical

researchers. The growth of human cells outside the

body enables the investigation of the basic biological and physiological phenomena that govern the

normal life cycle and many of the mechanisms of

disease. In traditional research methods, mammalian

cells are cultured using vessels in which cells settle

to the bottom surface of the vessel under the

influence of gravity. This gravitational influence

results in a thin sheet of cells, the depth of a single 

2000 ANNUAL REPORT

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More than 200 types of cells make up the human body. These various cells are assembled into a variety

of tissues. Pictured here are red blood cells, nerve cells, and tissue from the trachea and lungs.

M
2000 ANNUAL REPORT

cell, called a monolayer. Cells in human

tissues, however, are arranged in complex,

three-dimensional structures. When cells

are grown in a monolayer, they do not

perform all the functions that the original

tissue does. 

Although much valuable information can be gained from monolayer cell

cultures, further understanding of the

processes that govern gene expression and

cellular differentiation is limited because

the cells are not arranged as they are in

the human body. When the influence of

gravity is decreased, the cells are able to

grow in more tissue-like, three-dimensional aggregates, or clusters. Until the cellular biotechnology program developed a unique technology, the

NASA bioreactor, experiments to form three-dimensional cell formations were confined to the microgravity environment of space.

The NASA bioreactor is an analog of microgravity cell culture that can be used on the ground.

The completely filled cylindrical vessel rotates

about a horizontal axis, suspending the cells in a

low-shear culturing environment. This allows for

cell aggregation, differentiation, and growth. The

bioreactor affords researchers exciting opportunities

to create three-dimensional cell cultures that are

similar to the tissues found in the human body. 

Using both space- and ground-based

bioreactors, scientists are investigating the prospect

of developing tissues that can be used in medical

transplantation to replace failed organs and

tissues. Additionally, the investigators are striving

to produce models of human disease to be used in

the development of novel drugs and vaccines for the

treatment and prevention of disease, to devise

strategies to re-engineer defective tissues, and to

develop new hypotheses for the emergence of

diseases such as cancer. Finally, cells exposed to

simulated and true microgravity respond by making

novel adaptations that give new insights to

cellular processes, establish a cellular basis

for the human response to microgravity and

the space environment, and pave the way

for cell biology research in space regarding

the transition of terrestrial life to low-gravity

environments.

15

OVERVIEW CELLULAR BIOTECHNOLOGY

3

NASA’s rotating bioreactor is an analog of microgravity cell culture and has made it

possible for cells to aggregate, differentiate, and grow in three-dimensions in cultures

on Earth.

Cells cultured on Earth (left) typically settle quickly on the bottom of culture vessels due to gravity. In microgravity (right), cells remain suspended and aggregate

to form three-dimensional tissue.
Program Summary

The annual Cellular Biotechnology Investigators’

Working Group (IWG) Meeting, held March 16–18, 2000, in

Houston, Texas, was attended by approximately 100 scientists

from universities, NASA field centers, the National Institutes

of Health, the National Space Biomedical Research Institute,

and commercial cell culture enterprises. 

Highlights of the 33 presentations made at the meeting included discoveries in the engineering of heart muscle

and cartilage, unique gene expression in renal (kidney) cells

maintained in microgravity and in space bioreactors, the formation of primitive blood vessel–like structures in cancerous

tissue, and a patent application related to the unique glycosylations afforded in bioreactor cell culture. Several issues of the

journal In Vitro will showcase the NASA-sponsored research

in cell-based systems using the bioreactor. Three new bioreactor systems were also unveiled at this meeting: one from

Johnson Space Center, one from Ames Research Center, and

one from SHOT, Inc. 

Under the NRA for cellular and macromolecular

biotechnology that was released in August 2000, NASA sought

to expand its activities in bioreactor design and tissue engineering, with the goal of developing tissue models for space

experiments and biomedical research. Research proposals were

solicited in the areas of tissue engineering, tissue models for

human disease studies and drug testing, bioreactor design, and

changes in gene expression and metabolic function. Additional

areas of interest revolved around cell culture technologies,

including studying the physical environment within a bioreactor;

assessing the value of low-shear and spatial co-location in

bioreactors; and studying the effects of culture media, cellular

metabolism, and waste accumulation to facilitate tissue growth

and differentiation. NASA also sought research in the area of

biomaterials and scaffolds for tissue engineering, and research

to support the development of technologies (e.g., biosensors

for pH, glucose, and oxygen levels) and maintenance strategies

for three-dimensional culture to allow long-term automation

and improvement of the culturing process.

Notices of intent for this NRA were due on

September 6, 2000, and 225 proposals were received by the

October 27, 2000, due date. NASA plans to announce selections in spring 2001, with grants and contracts to be awarded

shortly thereafter. For additional information on the NRA and

selections, visit http://research.hq.nasa.gov/code_u/nra/

current/NRA-00-HEDS-03/index.html on the WWW. In addition, a listing of all ongoing biotechnology research projects,

along with the names of the investigators conducting the

research, is provided in the Appendix.

The cellular biotechnology program was reviewed by

the National Research Council in 2000. The NRC report,

Future Biotechnology Research on the International Space

Station, recommended that the cellular biotechnology program

should more closely coordinate its research strategies and

work with NASA’s Life Sciences Division to take advantage

of overlapping interests between the two programs.

In response to this recommendation, the cellular

biotechnology program is planning for its 2001 IWG Meeting

to be a landmark meeting — the first agency-wide cell science

conference, open to all investigators conducting cell-based

space research. The meeting will be sponsored jointly by the

cellular biotechnology program at Johnson Space Center (JSC)

and the fundamental biology program at Ames Research

Center. In an effort to foster coordination and collaboration

between these programs, both flight- and ground-based

research will be presented in sessions covering tissue

modeling, immunology, cell culture technology, biological

response to physical forces, cell proliferation and differentiation, research models in lower organisms (e.g., bacteria

and insects), cell movement and the cytoskeleton (the protein

fibers composing the structural framework of the cell), and

gene expression. 

Another exciting development is NASA’s groundbreaking agreement with the private sector to explore a new

frontier in biotechnology. A Space Act Agreement was signed

with Fisk Ventures to explore the use of JSC-developed

biotechnology. This is a first-of-its-kind agreement between

NASA, the private venture capital firm, and a newly

established biotechnology joint venture company, StelSys,

Inc., of Baltimore, Maryland. This agreement for commercial

use of NASA’s bioreactor technology is a joint effort involving

an extensive market-driven study of both what is technically

possible and what is most likely to be commercially successful. This unprecedented private-sector investment is expected

to open the door to a new frontier in medical research, which

may one day lead to new treatment options for patients facing

organ transplant surgery. Areas of focus include infectious disease research, developing a liver-assist device for patients in

need of transplant surgery, and potentially faster drug testing

and approval. 

Celdyne Corporation has been awarded a patent

license to manufacture the hydrofocusing bioreactor (HFB), a

bioreactor technology that was developed at JSC. The HFB

enables three-dimensional cell culture and tissue engineering

research on Earth and in space. It provides a reduction in shear

forces exerted on cell aggregates in culture as compared with

other systems, thereby permitting the development of larger

cell aggregates. Using this bioreactor technology will help

researchers to increase their understanding of basic cell function and three-dimensional tissue engineering as they relate to

the basis of disease, tissue modeling, and drug development. 

Flight Experiments

FY 2000 was a year of advances for the cellular

biotechnology flight program. One experiment in renal tissue

2000 ANNUAL REPORT

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2000 ANNUAL REPORT

culturing flew this year on the shuttle, and preparations for

four future shuttle flight experiments in microencapsulation

processing are under way. Development of the Biotechnology

Facility for the International Space Station progressed along

with some new technology to aid in flight experiments.

On shuttle mission STS-106, Principal

Investigator Timothy Hammond, of Tulane University

Medical Center, ran a follow-up experiment to his STS-90

investigation, in which microgravity was found to cause

large-scale alterations in renal cell gene expression. The follow-up experiment examined how microgravity alters the

gene expression in renal cells that ultimately enables kidneys

to develop and function normally.

Cells grown in suspension in space or in a bioreactor

on Earth can join together and form three-dimensional tissues similar to their counterparts in an intact organ. These

tissues are difficult to produce in Earth’s gravity because

even in a bioreactor, once the aggregates grow large enough,

they become too heavy to remain suspended and so fall to the

bottom of the bioreactor and cease to grow. Renal cells were

grown both on STS-106 and on the ground. Controls

included samples grown under conditions to simulate the

increased gravitational forces and vibrations experienced during shuttle launch, as well as cells grown under optimal conditions in the rotating wall vessel. Cells were fixed two hours

into the flight, RNA was extracted upon return to Earth, and

gene array analyses were performed. Preliminary analyses

from both flight and control renal cells show that mechanical

conditions did affect the types of nuclear proteins that were

produced by the renal cells — specific clusters of genes

changed over time. Some of these changes were unique to the

microgravity environment, but others were the result of

mechanical culture conditions. The researchers observed an

array of transcription factors that they are now attempting to

identify. (Transcription is the process of converting DNA into

RNA.) Hammond and his co-investigators hope to identify

which transcription factors change which cluster of genes.

To fly Hammond’s experiment on STS-106, three

separate NASA programs worked together: the fundamental

biology program, the microgravity cellular biotechnology program, and the Division of Research Integration, the NASA

division that oversees commercial research. Hammond hopes

that the outcome of his research will have direct clinical applications. For example, together with commercial partner

StelSys, Inc., Hammond has patented a method to produce

vitamin D using the rotating wall vessel bioreactor. People on

kidney dialysis need vitamin D, but it is expensive to make

and difficult to purify. StelSys hopes to use the bioreactor to

mimic natural vitamin D production in the kidney cells with

the hope of producing the vitamin easily and inexpensively.

Preparations for the flight of the microgravity encapsulation and drug delivery system continued in FY 2000. The

Microencapsulation Electrostatic Processing System

(MEPS-II) will be used to form and harvest microcapsules.

This facility uses electrostatic fields to add coatings to make

the microcapsules more effective. Researchers are exploring

“multilayered” microcapsules as a new way of combating

cancer, improving chemotherapy treatments, and delivering

drugs to astronauts, for whom ingestion or injection of medications is not always possible (one possible method for delivery

of the microcapsules is intranasally). 

NASA is also enhancing its commercial biotechnology research on the MEPS-II under an expanded program with

two research centers at Texas A&M University. The drug

encapsulation effort at JSC focuses on novel drug delivery systems for crewmembers and methods to extend drug shelf life

for extended space missions.

MEPS-II will fly on STS-108 near the end of 2001.

Ten microencapsulation experiments will be performed on

each of four flights (STS-108, STS-109, STS-110, and STS111) during 2001 and 2002. This year, MEPS-II has been

reconfigured so that it can be operated without using the ISS

cabin air system, and an internal process control computer has

been added.

Space station research plans are moving ahead, with a

major program review for the Biotechnology Facility (BTF)

planned for January 22–24, 2001. The review will include

participants from JSC Life Sciences and Engineering, the

International Space Station Program, the Microgravity

Research Program Office, and NASA headquarters. The BTF

is a one-rack, continuously operated facility for the ISS in

which separate experiment modules will be integrated and

adapted as needed. The facility was conceptualized in 1992,

CELLULAR BIOTECHNOLOGY

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Renal cortical (outer surface) cells have been cultured successfully in

the microgravity environment of space. Kidney cells are being cultured in space so that researchers may study the expression of proteins that may be useful for the treatment of kidney disease.
and an operating concept was demonstrated from 1994 to

1998 on the Russian space station, Mir. Lessons learned from

space shuttle flights and Mir increments led to completion of

the requirements for a continuously operating BTF for the ISS.

This concept was endorsed by the NRC nonadvocate review

meeting in July 1999. 

The science requirements for high throughput

necessitate that the facility aboard the ISS have a major

proportion of the experiment hardware in residence and that

specimens (rather than equipment) be shuttled to and from the

facility. The BTF raises space science from the shuttle

“payload” mentality to the new age of the space laboratory and

elevates space research productivity to a level that is consistent

with the productivity of ground-based laboratories. The BTF

will make it possible for researchers to decrease the time

from experiment

inception to publication

of results to as little as

three years, compared

with the traditional

seven-to-eleven-year

time frame. The BTF

can also accommodate

the accelerated

approaches often sought

by commercial developers conducting pathfinding research.

The cell- and

tissue-based research

that will be enabled by

the BTF is critical to the

Human Exploration and

Development of Space

and Bioastronautics

initiatives. The cellular

biotechnology program

will facilitate basic and

applied research in cell

biology, tissue engineering, and related sciences

for peer-reviewed investigators from the world

science and industrial

communities by providing the technology and

resources for the conduct of ground-based

and flight experiments.

The BTF will provide

the continuum of research activity that meets the needs

of investigators seeking the microgravity environment as

a means to achieve scientific goals.

Growth of long-duration mammalian cell and tissue

cultures in spaceflight bioreactor systems requires automated

monitoring of culture parameters such as pH and glucose

concentration. In support of this, the cellular biotechnology

program has developed a noninvasive optical sensor to

measure the pH of bioreactor cell culture media. This is the

first such sensor to successfully operate for 120 days

continuously and without recalibration over the biological pH

range of 6.5 to 7.5.

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NASA is researching new methods of microencapsulation of drugs with the hope of finding

new ways of delivering medications to astronauts, as well as to extend drug shelf life for

extended space missions.
2000 ANNUAL REPORT

Highlights

The Beat Goes On

A properly functioning heart is

vital to an organism’s health and survival.

More than five million Americans suffer

from heart failure — a leading cause of

death in developed countries. NASA PI

Lisa Freed and Co-Investigator Gordana

Vunjak-Novakovic, both of the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

(MIT), believe that they can use

engineered cardiac tissue to study the

function of heart muscle and perhaps

devise intervention methods to help

people with heart disease. In fact, their

efforts have paid off with the first-ever

laboratory observation of the beating of

engineered cardiac tissue, with the tissue

showing spontaneous contractions at a

rate of 70 beats per minute. With this

achievement, Freed and Vunjak-Novakovic

have taken the first steps toward developing tissue that could one day be used

to patch damaged human hearts. 

Freed and Vunjak-Novakovic’s

team attached heart cells isolated from

very young rats to polymer scaffolds,

which were then placed in a NASA

rotating wall bioreactor along with a

solution of nutrients and a membrane for

gas exchange. It took about a

week of just the right conditions for the more than 5

million (on average) cells

to begin to form connections among themselves

and to begin to contract in

unison as a piece of functional tissue. The ability to

conduct electrical signals is

possible only if the cells

are functionally connected, and the first goal

of the research is to reconstruct the cardiac cells’

native tissue.

The second goal of

Freed and Vunjak-Novakovic’s

research is to characterize

the engineered heart tissues

to learn about their electrophysiological, histological,

and molecular properties.

Using an electrode array,

they can study the propagation

of electrical waves through

the tissue, command the

tissue to beat at a prescribed rate, and

study the range of frequencies that can

be used to pace the tissue, the way a

pacemaker implanted in a human heart

patient is used to control the heart.

This research team’s successes

are exciting, but a long road must still be

traveled before engineered heart muscle

patches are ready to help patients in

need. The MIT team has made only the

muscle component, and even that muscle

is very thin. To obtain a real piece

of implantable cardiac tissue, that cardiac muscle has to be integrally fed by a

system of blood vessels. Additionally,

Freed and Vunjak-Novakovic’s team

must move from studies of rat cells to

studies using human cells. They are now

in the beginning stages of such studies.

Freed, Vunjak-Novakovic, and

their team of researchers have published

their findings in two articles: “Cardiac

Muscle Tissue Engineering: Toward an

In-Vitro Model for Electrophysiological

Studies,” American Journal of

Physiology, 227 (Heart Circ. Physiol.

46): H433–44, 1999; and “Cardiac

Tissue Engineering: Cell Seeding,

Cultivation Parameters, and Tissue

Construct Characterization,”

Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 64:

580–9, 1999.

CELLULAR BIOTECHNOLOGY

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More than five million Americans suffer from heart failure, which is a leading cause of death in developed countries. While heart transplants can save some lives,

researchers hope they can use engineered heart tissue to

help patients with heart disease.

To date, researchers are capable of engineering only very thin patches of heart

muscle, but they are working toward the even greater challenges of creating in

vitro thick, vascularized tissue. Here, a transmission electron micrograph shows a

number of important landmarks present in functional heart tissue: (a) well-organized myofilaments (Mfl), z-lines (Z), and abundant glycogen granules (Gly); and

(b) intercalcated disc (ID) and desmosomes (DES).
Seeking Insulin Independence

Diabetes is among the top ten

leading causes of death by disease and is

the leading cause of blindness and

kidney failure in the United States, as

well as a major risk factor for heart disease.

More than 20 million people in the

United States are diabetic, and diabetes

contributes significantly to the health

care costs in this country. In Type I

diabetes, previously known as juvenile

diabetes, the body is unable to produce

insulin, which is necessary for control of

glucose levels in the blood. Excess

levels of glucose in the blood result in

the disease processes associated with

diabetes.

An intensive treatment regimen

can reduce some of the risk associated

with the disease, but because it involves

testing blood sugar levels four or more

times a day; multiple daily insulin

injections or use of an insulin pump;

adjustment of insulin doses according to

food intake and exercise; diet and

exercise plans; and monthly visits to a

health care team that can be composed

of a physician, a nurse educator, a

dietitian, and a behavioral therapist, the

number of people who can follow the

regimen with success is limited. 

One alternate treatment to a

regimen of insulin injections is

pancreatic islet cell transplantation.

Insulin is made by the beta cells in

pancreatic islets, small “islands” of

hormone-producing cells in the pancreas.

In Type I diabetes, the beta cells in the

pancreas are destroyed at an early age,

possibly by the body’s own immune system. In an islet cell transplantation procedure, islet cells are taken from a

deceased donor’s pancreas and are

transplanted into the patient’s liver using

a catheter. The islets cells will, after a

time, attach to the blood vessels and

begin to produce insulin. Rejection of

donor tissue is one complication of this

procedure, and transplant recipients must

take anti-rejection drugs to ensure that

the islet cells will continue to function.

Lack of a reliable source for transplantable tissue is another major barrier

to transplantation.

Overcoming this barrier is the

research goal of NASA PI Arun Rajan of

Baylor College of Medicine. Rajan is

working toward a viable method for

growing islet cells in vitro. He and his

team began working with endocrine

tissue from rats. To create a limitless

supply of normally functioning islet cells

in vitro, the researchers used a genetic

engineering strategy. With gene transfer,

the researchers were able to confer

tumorlike immortal properties on the

cells, which allowed them to grow in

culture. The team also incorporated a

gene sequence that would allow the

transferred genes to be removed so as

not to allow growth into tumors. 

These islet cells were then

placed in a NASA rotating wall bioreactor.

Rajan and his team developed a

modified rotating wall bioreactor prototype that would allow the assembling

islets to grow and be fed without physically disturbing the culture itself. The

islet cells assembled in the bioreactor

into islet-like aggregates that exhibited

natural islet structure and function. Said

Rajan, “The non-random arrangement of

the artificial islets compares well with

natural islets.” In fact, the researchers

were able to show that their artificial

islets did indeed produce insulin, a big

step toward the goal of developing a

paradigm for human islet expansion.

Success with rat islet cells moves

researchers closer to being able to

generate an unlimited number of safe,

normally functioning islet cells for

human transplantation.

2000 ANNUAL REPORT

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Diabetes is among the top ten causes of death by disease in the

U.S. and is the leading cause of blindness and kidney failure. One

alternate treatment regimen to insulin injection for diabetics is

pancreatic islet transplantation. Pancreatic islet cells are responsible for the production of insulin in the body. Researchers are

working toward a viable method for growing islet cells in vitro.
2000 ANNUAL REPORT

Rajan and his co-workers

have published their experimental

results in “Microgravity Tissue

Engineering of Pancreatic Islets,”

Diabetes, 48 (Supp. 1): 1487, A340,

1999.

Prostrating Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is the most

commonly diagnosed cancer in men

in North America, striking approximately 200,000 men every year, and

is the second leading cause of cancer

death. While prostate cancer does

have a propensity to metastasize

(spread) to the bones, it is easily

treated if diagnosed early.

Unfortunately, because of the potential unpleasant side effects to early

treatment of the disease, many men

put off being tested. Once the cancer

spreads to the bones, it is inevitably

fatal, killing 40,000 men in the

United States each year. The public

health cost of prostate cancer in the

United States is more than $2 billion

per year.

Recognizing that no effective therapies exist for prostate

cancer that has spread, PI Leland

Chung and his team at the University of

Virginia undertook the development of

an in-vitro model of prostate cancer

metastasis to the skeleton. This model

would enable researchers to better study

the spreading and growth process, as

well as allow them to test and assess

potential therapies.

Chung and his team started

their research by developing three different prostate cancer cell sublines from a

parent prostate cancer cell line. To make

sure these cells would indeed metastasize to the skeleton, the team tested them

in vivo in mice and confirmed that the

cells traveled to the bone and formed

tumors there. The next step was to grow

these prostate cancer cell lines and boneforming cells (called osteoblasts) together, or co-culture them, to try to replicate

the type of tumor growth found in the

skeleton. The team tried traditional

two-dimensional methods for cell

culturing and found that the traditionally

grown cells did not possess the properties of in-vivo tissue. They then

co-cultured the cells in the NASA

rotating wall bioreactor, which allowed

the cells to grow under gentle suspension. The result was the formation of

three-dimensional tissues, or organoids,

that were composed of proliferating

prostate cancer cells and osteoblasts.

The organoids will make study of

metastasized prostate cancer and

potential treatments easier. 

The researchers have found that

some of the observable and genetic

changes of the prostate cancer cells

grown in the bioreactor were induced by

specific three-dimensional conditions

under the influence of neighboring

prostate or bone stromal cells. (Stromal

cells make up the supporting framework

of an organ — in this case, bone.) This

result suggests that there is some

signaling process between prostate

cancer cells and their microenvironment.

In fact, Chung and his team have

observed that once the prostate cancer

cells have moved to the skeleton they

begin to mimic some of the properties of

bone cells. This indicates that the

prostate cancer cells are receiving a

signal from the bone cells. A strategy

that Chung is investigating is to develop

a co-targeting approach, which would

destroy cancer cells as well as their

neighboring supporting bone cells.

Although these studies were groundbased, Chung hopes to continue his

research aboard the ISS. Chung and his

co-workers will publish a paper, “A

Conditional Replication-Competent

Adenoviral Vector, Ad-OC-E1a, to

Cotarget Prostate Cancer and Bone

Stroma in an Experimental Model of

Androgen-Independent Prostate Cancer

Bone Metastasis” in Cancer Research in

August 2001.

CELLULAR BIOTECHNOLOGY

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3

Prostate cancer can be easily treated if diagnosed early, but it does have a propensity to

metastasize to the bones if left untreated. Once the cancer spreads to the bones, it is inevitably fatal.

Researchers are using the NASA bioreactor to grow three-dimensional prostate cancer tissue for use

in developing a co-targeting approach to destroying cancer cells as well as their neighboring

supporting bone cells.
2000 22 ANNUAL REPORT

ombustion and the results of combustion

processes affect each of us every day. The majority of

the world’s electric power production, home heating, and

ground and air transportation are made possible by combustion. Despite these benefits, combustion by-products

are major contributors to air pollution and global

warming. Additionally, unintentional fires claim thousands of lives and cost billions of dollars in property

damage. Improved control of combustion

would be of great benefit to society,

yet is impeded by a lack of fundamental

understanding of combustion processes. 

Combustion research is hampered by the effects of gravitational

forces on Earth. Gravity causes hot,

lightweight gases produced during combustion to rise.

The movement of 

the gases generates airflows that produce

flames which are unsteady and nonsymmetric, like

flames produced by a campfire. These flames are almost

impossible to characterize because their shifting movements and shapes make it difficult for scientists to solve

the equations that describe them mathematically.

Combustion theories, therefore, are often based on

steady, symmetrical flames. Research in

microgravity offers unprecedented opportunities for critical measurement of large, steady,

slow-moving, symmetric flames, since the

forces of gravity and the resulting airflow

movements are effectively eliminated. 

The data from experiments conducted in

microgravity are used to verify combustion theories,

validate numerical models, and develop fresh insights

into fundamental combustion phenomena, all of which

can be applied to Earth-based combustion processes.

Research in microgravity has revealed information

about thermal and chemical processes, for example, that play a role in flame propagation and extinction. These processes,

while present on Earth, are difficult

to observe because they are often hidden

by more dominant reactions attributable

to gravity.

OVERVIEW

C

Improved control of combustion could

lessen the effects of air pollution and

global warming.

COMBUSTION SCIENCE

4
2000 ANNUAL REPORT

COMBUSTION SCIENCE

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Program Summary

In fiscal year (FY) 2000, the research program in

microgravity combustion science maintained its primary focus

of working toward an understanding of fundamental combustion processes and flame structures. At the same time, the

program added a more applications-based focus to aid NASA

in developing solutions for crew health and safety issues.

The microgravity combustion science program funded new

and ongoing research projects for 78 principal investigators

(PIs) working on 19 flight investigations and 59 groundbased projects. A listing of all ongoing combustion science

research projects, along with the names of the investigators

conducting the research, is provided in the Appendix.

The newest group of research grants resulted from a

combustion science NASA Research Announcement (NRA)

released to the combustion research community in November

1999. Peer-review panels evaluated and ranked the 119

proposals received, of which 28 were ultimately selected for

either ground-based or flight-definition research. Six of the 28

selected proposals address critical, recently identified needs in

the area of spacecraft fire safety; two of the six were selected

for flight definition work. This suite of research, integrated

within NASA’s new Bioastronautics initiative, will focus on

generating specific, attainable, applications-based solutions to

NASA’s fire safety issues for crewmembers living and working aboard spacecraft. A workshop planned for the spring of

2001 will assist in sharpening that focus. Also selected for

funding were investigations in gaseous flames, droplets and

sprays, combustion synthesis, and surface combustion. A

complete list of funded projects may be found on the World

Wide Web at http://peer1.idi.usra.edu/peer_review/press/mg/

pr00-03.htm.

The ground-based microgravity combustion science

program provides insight into fundamental combustion

phenomena. The results obtained are crucially important to

scientifically challenging missions that NASA hopes to pursue.

This year, ground-based combustion researchers continued to

add to the increasing body of knowledge in the field.

Emerging areas of ground-based study include research in

understanding the process of the combustion synthesis of

nanoparticles and nanotubes; both areas hold promise for customizing material properties for high-strength aerospace applications. 

In FY 2000, 15 ground-based research investigations

from the 1995 NRA process concluded their studies in the

areas of diffusion and premixed gas flames, droplets and

sprays, surface combustion, propellants, and combustion

synthesis processes. The ongoing 1997 NRA grant pool of 40

ground-based investigations also continues to bear fruit. In

combination with the 1995 NRA grants, the 55 investigations

generated 76 journal articles and contributed 52 papers to

published conference proceedings. More than 100 presentations based on research to date were delivered in FY

2000 at national and international forums. Contributions to

five books were made last year as a result of our

investigators’ work. 

Flight Experiments

Experiments in space further refine and validate

combustion theories and extend our understanding of combustion

phenomena that are obscured by gravity. The extended times

in microgravity and the generally higher-quality microgravity

conditions that can be obtained in space are invaluable

to combustion researchers, since some phenomena, such as

slow-burning smoldering reactions, are difficult to observe

over the seconds-long episodes of microgravity conditions

obtainable in terrestrial facilities. 

In FY 2000, investigators continued preparations for

19 flight research projects that require the advantages offered

by the microgravity conditions available in orbit. Five of the

investigations have near-term flight opportunities aboard the

space shuttle or on a sounding rocket. The remaining 14

investigations continued with their research formulation and

hardware implementation paths toward flight opportunities

within the Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR) aboard the

International Space Station (ISS). (For more detailed

information about the CIR, see p.55.)

Flight-definition activities, which determine the

objectives of flight experiments and detail the hardware

necessary to conduct those experiments in space, continued for

nine investigations, one of which passed its first peer review

with exceptional praise from the panel. The Cool Flames

investigation team, headed by PI Howard Pearlman, of Glenn

Research Center (GRC), who received the 1999 Presidential

Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, will begin its

engineering development in 2001 for a journey toward flight. 

Although no new flight research results were obtained

this year, mission hardware preparations were completed for

three projects encompassing four flight investigations that will

be conducted aboard a sounding rocket; in two autonomous,

shuttle-based, Get Away Special (GAS) canisters; and within

the Combustion Module (CM) facility onboard a shuttle flight.

The Spread Across Liquids experiment concluded preparations

for its sixth sounding rocket flight, which is scheduled for

launch in the early months of 2001. The Microgravity

Smoldering Combustion Reflight Experiment has prepared two

GAS systems for flight aboard the space shuttle and continues

to await flight manifesting. The CM-1 system, which flew

aboard the Microgravity Science Laboratory–1 (MSL–1)

mission on STS-83 and STS-94, has been refurbished as CM-2

and is integrated with the SPACEHAB carrier for a flight

aboard STS-107 in the spring of 2002. 

The transition from conducting combustion

experiments aboard sounding rockets and the space shuttle

toward full utilization of the research capability of the ISS

continued in FY 2000. In conjunction with the preparation of

the CIR portion of the Fluids and Combustion Facility, the
2000 ANNUAL REPORT

COMBUSTION SCIENCE

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combustion science program worked to ready a number of

experiments for upcoming research flights to the space station.

Detailed engineering of both a Multiuser Droplet Combustion

Apparatus (MDCA) and a solids-based apparatus known as

FEANICS (Flow Enclosure Accommodating Novel

Investigations in Combustion of Solids) is under way. 

The MDCA will enable droplet combustion research

to be conducted in the CIR and will be the first research payload in the CIR. Multiuser hardware such as the MDCA allows

more effective resource utilization of the ISS and CIR.

Research on the combustion of fuel droplets is important

because of the many kinds of practical devices that deliver fuel

to combustors in droplet form, including diesel engines and

industrial turbine engines. Studies in microgravity allow

researchers to investigate spherical fuel droplets, which are

much easier to model mathematically than gravitationally

influenced tear-shaped droplets. Four investigators have been

identified to conduct an initial set of research utilizing

the combined capabilities of the CIR and MDCA systems. The

investigations are the Droplet Combustion Experiment-2, the

Bi-Component Droplet Combustion Experiment, Sooting and

Radiation Effects in Microgravity Droplet Combustion, and the

Dynamics of Droplet Combustion and Extinction experiment.

The MDCA will also remain available for use with new droplet

investigations that may be proposed in the future.

A second group of investigations, which will be

conducted in the FEANICS apparatus aboard the ISS, will

concentrate on the phenomena of solids combustion. These

investigations are highly relevant to the understanding of fire

ignition, the sustenance of combustion flames in real materials,

and fire extinction. All such topics are crucial to the increased

understanding of terrestrial and spacecraft fire safety activities.

The investigations are titled Solid Inflammability Boundary at

Low Speed, Transition From Ignition to Flame Growth

Under External Radiation in Three Dimensions,

Flammability Diagrams of Combustible Materials in

Microgravity, Radiative Enhancement Effects on Flame

Spread, and Investigation of Diffusion Flame Tip Instability. 

In addition to these already selected investigations,

two new investigations are being considered for early deployment on the ISS. These investigations focus on the spacecraft

fire safety element of the Bioastronautics initiative and will

make use of the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG). (For

more information on the MSG, see page 57.)

Previous flight investigation results were analyzed

and published in FY 2000. These publications included final

reports from an international cooperative research project

involving NASA and the Keldysh Research Center of Moscow,

Russia. The reports follow the investigation of the

flammability of three types of plastic materials aboard the

Russian space station, Mir. 

Highlights

Setting Fires to Prevent Fire in

Space

Many materials that we come

into contact with every day will burn

given the right set of circumstances:

proper airflow, fuel, and a spark to get it

all started. That’s a problem in space,

where resources for dealing with an

accidental fire are limited. Researchers

working on fire safety issues for crews

in space want to reduce opportunities for

accidental fires as much as possible. 

One way to do that is to understand

the flammability characteristics of some

of the most commonly used materials in

space, like plastics and composite

materials, which are used for everything

from water storage to vital spacecraft

components.

To address this

issue, an international cooperative research

project involving

scientists at

GRC, NASA’s

White Sands Test Facility, and the

Keldysh Research Center in Moscow,

Russia, set out to investigate the

flammability of three plastic materials

supplied by the United States: polymethyl

methacrylate, known as Plexiglas; highdensity polyethylene, used in plastic milk

bottles and food storage containers; and

Delrin, a very strong plastic used in valve

bodies and piping seals. 

Researchers working on fire safety issues in

space need to understand the flammability

characteristics of materials that are commonly used aboard spacecraft. Experiments

performed on Mir revealed that there was a

critical minimum airflow necessary to burn

materials in low gravity. Polyethylene rods

(a common component in plastic milk bottles) are shown burning on Mir at different

airflow velocities (from left to right, top to

bottom: 8.5 cm/sec, 4.0 cm/sec, 2.0 cm/sec,

and 1.0 cm/sec).
2000 ANNUAL REPORT

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Material tests

in microgravity were

performed on the

Russian space station,

Mir, over a three-day

period in October 1998.

Researchers gathered

data on airflow rates

and air composition as

samples of the three

plastic materials were

burned. Video provided

information on flame

size and rate of flame

spread. Reference testing

of the flammability,

heat release, thermal

properties, and

combustion products

of identical materials

was also conducted in

terrestrial laboratories at both the

Keldysh Research Center and the White

Sands Test Facility. What the tests

revealed was that with a critical minimum airflow, these materials would burn

in low gravity, though they would not

burn in quiescent air. These findings

confirm the theory that materials that are

found to be flame-resistant on Earth may

in fact burn in certain low-gravity

conditions in space.

The Russian contribution to the

project concluded with the publication

and distribution of the final report as a

NASA Contractor’s Report. The report

summarizes the findings of the Mir tests,

discusses the fire safety implications of

the minimum airflow required for flame

propagation, and describes the nature of

recommended further research. A separate final report from the White Sands

Test Facility presented the results of

flammability measurements on the

ground for the test materials and proposed a simple model to predict the

minimum airflow for flame propagation.

Fire in the Sky

Would a fire on the Moon or

Mars burn the same as a fire on Earth?

Not if the gravitational forces are different. That’s because gravity, which causes

hotter, less dense gases to rise and

cooler, heavier gases to sink, creates

airflows around a flame that can work to

either impede or enhance a fire. Since

the force of gravity on the Moon and on

Mars is less than on Earth, fires there will

behave very differently than they do on

Earth. Just how differently is what PI Kurt

Sacksteder, of GRC, is investigating. 

In tests conducted on NASA’s

KC-135 aircraft, which produces microgravity and partial-gravity conditions

while flying in parabolic trajectories,

Sacksteder observed the effects of varying

amounts of gravity on material flammability and flame spreading characteristics

over solid fuels. His experiments have

provided the first observations of quasisteady upward flame spreading in

partial-gravity environments, including

lunar and martian gravitational values.

Earlier tests considered downward

spreading in partial gravity and indicated

that materials have a state of maximum

flammability at a gravity level between 

0 g and 1 g. Findings from Sacksteder’s

research have important implications for

missions to other gravity environments

where fire detection and suppression

may require different methods than are

required on Earth. 

Fire by the Numbers

Fires that keep industrial boilers

stoked and provide power to jet aircraft

don’t always stay where they are

supposed to. Turbulence can cause

flames to lift off their burners (hence,

the phenomenon called lifted jet flames)

and can temporarily interrupt the steady

operation of these machines. Stabilizing

jet flames is therefore crucial to the optimal function of these devices. By

studying lifted jet flames, which can

occur without the flame going completely

out, researcher Jyh-Yuan Chen, of

the University of California, Berkeley,

hopes to discover valuable information

on jet flame stability. 

The stability of jet flames may

be due to something known as a “triple

flame,” which is a three-pronged flame

structure found at the base of a lifted jet

flame. Experimental and numerical

studies suggest that triple flames may

also play a role in promoting flame

propagation. Chen hopes that studying

the influence of gravity on triple flames,

which affects propagation speed as well

as flame structure, will enhance understanding of flame spreading and stabilizing

mechanisms. Depending on the conditions,

gravity can either augment or attenuate

triple flame propagation, causing the

flame to become unstable and lose its

ability to propagate or, under favorable

gravity conditions, to accelerate the

rate of propagation. 

Chen is approaching the

problem of triple flame stability and

propagation numerically. Computer simulations of triple flames have begun to

reveal a picture of the dominant

structures and the underlying physics of

gravity that affect flame propagation.

Two-dimensional models of the combustion reaction, including data on heat,

fuel, and oxidizer transport, allow Chen

to experiment with flames under a wide

range of conditions and have begun to

reveal valuable information on a number

of phenomena critical to flame stability. 

As Good As Bone in a Fraction 

of the Time

Bones take years to grow.

Therefore, to correct damage due to

injury, disease, or genetic defects, sometimes bone replacement is the best option.

Synthesized bone for replacement

A fire on the Moon or Mars behaves differently

than it would on Earth because of differences in

the amounts of gravitational force on these planets.

Upward flame spreading over paper samples at four

different gravity levels is shown in these images.

Varying gravity levels were obtained using NASA’s

KC-135 aircraft as it maneuvered through a parabolic flight path. As gravity is reduced, the buoyant, upward motion of air is slowed and the flames

become shorter and spread more slowly.
2000 ANNUAL REPORT

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procedures has been made from such

diverse materials as ground, sintered

coral and hydrated calcium phosphate,

but none of these materials can be

produced as quickly and precisely as the

products of combustion synthesis that

are being investigated by PI John Moore,

of the Colorado School of Mines. 

Combustion-synthesized bone

can be fabricated in a matter of seconds

and shaped to resemble the natural bone

being replaced. In combustion synthesis,

the burning of two or more reactive

materials results in a new compound —

in this case, a porous material similar to

natural bone. Recent research results

show that combustion-synthesized

materials are relatively easy to form, and

that porosity mimicking natural bone can

be precisely controlled. Compression

tests, which determine the strength of

the synthesized bone material, have also

revealed that the mechanical properties

of these materials can be improved to a

high enough level to make them ideal

replacements for natural bone.

Understanding the

structure of the combustion-synthesized materials

is the key to maximizing

their strength and functionability for bone replacement. Gravity controls

pore size and the degree of

porosity in a given material.

In low-gravity experiments conducted on

NASA’s KC-135 aircraft,

Moore is working to produce “foamed,” or porous,

composites from a wide

range of advanced materials, including ceramics,

intermetallics, metal matrix

composites, and ceramic

matrix composites. He is

also attempting to vary the

size of the pores and

the degree of

porosity. The porous

materials may eventually

be used as permanent

implants supporting

healthy bone growth

through the pores, or as

temporary inserts until healthy bone

can grow and the replacement bone

can be absorbed by the body.

But are these materials safe?

Biocompatibility and bioactivity of

the replacement materials is

measured using cytotoxicity and

in-vivo biocompatibility tests. These

tests ensure that no harm is caused to

the body from the introduction of

foreign material. Recent cytotoxicity

tests conducted by Sulzer Medica,

Inc., a commercial company, on

samples produced by Moore of

titanium reinforced with titanium

boride and nickel-titanium compounds

show that the materials are not toxic

to the body’s natural cells.

The Biggest News Is Little Carbon

Fibers

With applications ranging

from electronics to pharmaceuticals,

tiny, hollow cylinders formed from a

single atomic layer of graphite may

just be the most versatile material

around. These highly ordered carbon

structures, called nanotubes, are thought

to be the strongest materials known.

Randall Vander Wal, of the National

Center for Microgravity Research on

Fluids and Combustion, is looking for

ways of producing them in quantity for

use in industry.

Although these fibers are very

small (on the order of a nanometer,

a billionth of a meter), the most common

methods for fabricating them are costly;

therefore, it is unclear whether carbon

nanotubes can be produced commercially

on a large scale. Vander Wal is investigating a method of producing the 

nanotubes by combusting reactive materials in a process called flame synthesis. 

Combustion synthesis can be used to fabricate

bone to be used as temporary inserts that are

absorbed by the body or as permanent implants

supporting healthy bone growth. Combustion

synthesized materials are easy to produce and

can be manufactured to mimic the porosity 

characteristics of natural bone. This image of rat

skull tissue shows the ingrowth of new bone into

a porous titanium boride implant.

Known for their versatility and strength,

carbon nanotubes could be of great use

to industries as far ranging as electronics and pharmaceuticals. Producing the

fibers on a commercial scale is expensive. Flame synthesis offers an economical way of producing the fibers in large

quantities. Samples of multi-walled

(top) and single-walled (bottom) carbon

nanotubes have been produced using

flame synthesis techniques.

10 nm

6 nm
2000 ANNUAL REPORT

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Flame synthesis has proven to

be an economical means of producing in

bulk a variety of aerosol materials such

as carbon black. Flame synthesis of

carbon nanotubes on a large scale could

enable their use in structural materials

for aerospace applications.

Vander Wal has successfully

fabricated single-walled nanotubes in a

laboratory on Earth using the flame

synthesis method. In these experiments,

catalyst particles were seeded into the

flame. Upon reaching a suitable

temperature within the flame, the

catalyst particles initiated nanotube

formation. 

The resulting nanotubes were

sampled using a probe, which was

rapidly inserted into and retracted from

the flame. Buoyancy-induced convection, however, limited the growth of

the nanotubes, as the catalyst particles remained within the flame for less

than one-tenth of a second (the particle’s residence time within the

flame) before they were carried away.

Vander Wal hopes that experiments

conducted in a low-gravity environment will aid in understanding the

limitations imposed by such short

residence times upon nanotube growth

and structure. 

Spirals Turn Up in Unusual Places

Spiral patterns are known to

exist in a range of chemical and

biological systems, including the

electrical signals generated in heart

muscles, but no one expected to find

them in flames propagating on a

moving surface. What PIs Vedha

Nayagam, of GRC, and Forman

Williams, of the University of

California, San Diego, did expect to

find when they ignited a spinning

plastic disk suspended horizontally in

air were flat, circular flames. 

Instead, after using a

blowtorch to ignite a spinning

plastic disk about one and a half times

the size of an audio compact disc,

Nayagam and Williams observed a

complex spiral pattern that advanced

around the disk in the opposite direction

from the disk’s rotation.

A delicate balance between the

swirling motion of the air near the disk

surface and the propagation speed of the

flame as it advanced toward new sources

of fuel is responsible for the unusual 

pattern. 

Nayagam and Williams

discovered the spiral shape in experiments where the disk was not quite hot

enough to sustain burning for more than

a minute. 

As the fuel (vaporized

molecules of plastic from the disk) and

oxygen were depleted by the combustion

reaction at a given point on the disk, the

flame dissipated until the spinning disk

circled around, bringing more vaporized

plastic molecules and oxygen. 

Nayagam and Williams are

looking to basic physics principles to

provide an explanation for the

occurrence of these spiral patterns. Their

work on this unusual phenomenon has

been published in the January 2000 issue

of Physical Review Letters (vol. 84, p.

479) in an article titled “Rotating

Spiral Edge Flames in Von Karman

Swirling Flows.” This article has

also appeared in the May 12, 2000,

issue of NASA Science News

Researchers found these (false-color) spiral flames when they ignited a spinning plastic

disk suspended horizontally in air. A delicate balance between the swirling motion of

air near the disk surface and the propagation speed of the flame as it advances toward

new sources of fuel is responsible for the unusual pattern.
2000 28 ANNUAL REPORT

vidence

of gravity’s sway

over the movement of fluids here

on Earth is everywhere. In nature,

gravity guides the

flow of rainwater into

streams and rivers and

shakes seemingly solid

ground into rippling waves

of soil during an earthquake.

At home, it causes bubbles of

gas to float to the top of a glass

of root beer and a pot of water

to go into a rolling boil when

the bottom surface gets hot

enough. In industry, gravity

affects the mixing of molten

materials, as denser liquids

naturally drift to the bottom

of the mixture. In fact, gravity

has such a strong influence over fluids that it can

mask evidence of other forces that affect fluid behavior.

Physicists in the microgravity fluid physics program

conduct studies under conditions that minimize the

effects of gravity so they can see the effects of other

phenomena such as surface tension and capillary

flow. Through their studies, these scientists are

striving to improve the ability to predict and control the

behavior of all fluids, including gas, liquid, plasma

(a gas containing free ions and electrons, and therefore

capable of conducting electric currents), and, in some

circumstances, solids. 

Their work covers five main areas: complex fluids,

interfacial phenomena, dynamics and stabilities, biological fluid physics, and multiphase flows and phase changes.

Research in complex fluids involves gases or liquids that

contain particles of other substances dispersed within

them. These include colloids, which are systems of fine

particles suspended in a fluid. Orange juice and paint

are examples of colloids. Another complex fluid is a

magnetorheological fluid, a colloid in which the viscosity,

or resistance to flow, of the fluid can be varied by

applying an external magnetic field. Foam, another

complex fluid, exhibits features of solids, liquids, and

vapors, although it is not classified as any of these.

Research on interfacial phenomena focuses on

how an interface, like the boundary between a gas and a

liquid, acquires and maintains its shape. Interface

dynamics relate to the interaction of surfaces in response

to heating, cooling, and chemical influences. Better

understanding of these phenomena will help humans

understand such occurrences as duck feathers and waterproof tents repelling water or water spontaneously

displacing air in the gaps of a sponge.

OVERVIEW

E

From a single raindrop to

Earth’s atmosphere, the

laws of fluid physics dictate how liquids and gases

behave.

FLUID PHYSICS

5
2000 ANNUAL REPORT 29

OVERVIEW

The area of dynamics and stability includes

research in drop dynamics, capillarity, and magneto/

electrohydrodynamics. The study of drop dynamics

deals with the behavior of liquid drops and gas bubbles

under the influence of external forces

and chemical effects. Capillarity refers

to effects that depend on surface

tension, such as the shape a liquid

takes within a container, or what causes

a drop to take a spherical shape. And

research in magneto/electrohydrodynamics involves the study of the effects

of magnetic and electric fields on

fluid flows.

The biological fluid physics

subdiscipline includes the flow of

fluids and the transport of chemicals in

biological systems and processes. The flow of blood in

the cardiovascular system, the flow of air in the

liquid-lined capillaries of the lungs, and the stretching of

DNA in an evaporating droplet of liquid are a

few examples.

Research on multiphase

flows and phase changes, such as

the transition from a liquid to a

gas, focuses on complex

problems of fluid flow in

varying conditions. Scientists

are seeking to add to their

currently limited knowledge of

how gravity-dependent

processes, such as boiling and

steam condensation, occur in

microgravity. Scientists also are

studying the diffusion of energy

and matter through liquids and

gases. A more thorough understanding of these

phenomena may lead to improvements in many

applications, such as air conditioning and refrigeration.

A microgravity environment allows scientists to

probe such complex phenomena as how a liquid wets

a surface like a windshield or how bubbles of gas

form. The study of fluid physics in space is even

teaching researchers about fluid systems within the

body.

FLUID PHYSICS

5
2000 ANNUAL REPORT

FLUID PHYSICS

30

5

Program Summary 

In support of research in these five areas, the microgravity fluid physics program funded a total of 115 experiments during fiscal year (FY) 2000. Of these experiments, 75

were new, including 61 ground-based research projects and 14

projects that were selected for flight definition. The new investigations were chosen in January 2000 from among 297

proposals submitted in response to a NASA Research

Announcement (NRA) released in November 1998. 

For a list of selectees, visit the World Wide Web at

http://microgravity.hq.nasa.gov/archives/98-HEDS/-03_

selections.htm. In addition, a listing of all ongoing fluid

physics research projects, along with the names of the investigators conducting the research, is provided in the Appendix.

Researchers learned about new funding opportunities

through NASA and new directions and advances in microgravity fluid physics research when they gathered for the Fifth

Microgravity Fluid Physics and Transport Phenomena

Conference August 9–11, 2000, in Cleveland, Ohio. At the

conference, which is held every two years, the director of the

Microgravity Research Division, Eugene Trinh, introduced a

new and evolving cross-disciplinary structure for the program,

which included the addition of biological sciences research.

He also explained the expanded opportunities for funding that

will become available as scientists from different disciplines

work together on projects, making all researchers involved

eligible for funding from all disciplines involved in a project.

Attendees also learned about the new International

Announcement of Opportunity, a research announcement that

was released in November 1999. The opportunity invited

researchers across all microgravity physical science disciplines

around the world to collaborate on research on the

International Space Station (ISS). The announcement was

designed to coordinate parallel research being conducted in

different countries in order to maximize resources planned for

the ISS and to avoid duplicated efforts.

Current and potential researchers also learned about

the schedule for the NRA in microgravity fluid physics, to be

released in January 2001, as well as the latest advances in

research in their discipline, which were shared by current

principal investigators (PIs). In addition, they found out that

the goal of future fluid physics research is to gain deeper

fundamental knowledge in order to permit the design and

development of systems for safe, long-term, crewed

exploration of space and to enhance NASA’s ability to impact

Earth-based applications in industry, the environment, and

health-related issues.

Fluid physicists also participated in the Workshop on

Research Needs in Space Thermal Systems and Processes for

Human Exploration of Space in July 2000. Temperature

control of thermal systems involves many aspects of fluid

physics, such as the flow of liquid fuel, and condensation and

evaporation at gas-liquid interfaces. Attendees posed and

addressed a number of questions relating to fluid dynamics,

including where the liquid is in systems in microgravity, how

the liquid moves, how thermocapillarity influences flow field

in a large tank, and when gravity is an important variable.

Their report is available on the workshop’s World Wide Web

site at http://microgravity.grc.nasa.gov/6712/thermal/

workshop.html.

Several notable papers describing the work of fluid

physics PIs were published in prestigious journals in FY 2000,

including Nature, Science, and Physical Review Letters. Of

particular note were a paper published by researchers

Zhengdong Cheng, William Russel, and Paul Chaikin, all of

Princeton University, titled “Controlled Growth of HardSphere Colloidal Crystals” (Nature, vol. 401, October 1999);

an article by Dudley Saville, of Princeton University, titled

“Electrophoretic Assembly of Colloidal Crystals With

Optically Tunable Micropatterns” (Nature, vol. 404, March

2000); and an article by John Hegseth, of the University of

New Orleans, titled “Thermalization of a Two-Phase Fluid in

Low Gravity: Heat Transferred From Cold to Hot” (Physical

Review Letters, vol. 84, May 2000). 

Flight Experiments

This was a

year of significant

advances for a new

remotely controllable

microscope and

experiments in complex

fluids, all of which are

scheduled for flight on

the ISS.

Because the

new Light Microscopy

Module (LMM) can

be controlled from

Earth, it will allow

flexibility in

scheduling experiments for the Fluids

Integrated Rack, the

fluid physics facility

to be installed in the

Destiny laboratory of

the ISS. (For more

information about the

Fluids Integrated

Rack, see p.55.) The

LMM, based on a

commercially available

upright microscope,

offers several key

capabilities: video

The Mechanics of Granular Materials is

a spaceflight experiment that is shedding

light on fine grain systems that behave like

fluids under stress. Scans of samples of sand

(above) subjected to varying stress in microgravity may reveal clues for how soil

behaves during earthquakes (right).
2000 ANNUAL REPORT

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5

microscopy to observe a sample’s features, including basic

structures and dynamics; interferometry to measure the

thickness of the thin liquid film that surrounds a bubble; laser

tweezers for colloidal particle manipulation and patterning;

confocal microscopy for providing enhanced three-dimensional visualization of colloidal structures; and spectrophotometry

for measuring colloidal crystal photonic properties. Although

the LMM has been designed for complex fluids experiments, it

can also be used for study of biological samples at the cellular

and tissue levels.

Slated to use the LMM are the Constrained Vapor

Bubble (CVB) experiment, led by Peter Wayner, of Rensselaer

Polytechnic Institute; the Physics of Hard Spheres Experiment-2,

led by Paul Chaikin; Physics of Colloids in Space-2, led by

David Weitz of Harvard University; and the Low Volume

Fraction Colloidal Assembly experiment, led by Arjun Yodh,

of the University of Pennsylvania. CVB investigates heat

conductance in microgravity as a function of liquid volume

and heat flow rate to determine the transport process

characteristics in a curved liquid film. The other three experiments investigate various aspects of the nucleation, growth,

structure, and properties of colloidal crystals in microgravity

and the effects of micromanipulation upon their properties.

The first microgravity fluid physics experiment to fly

on the ISS will be

Physics of

Colloids in Space

(PCS). The experiment, conceived

by PI David Weitz

and Co-Investigator

(Co-I) Peter Pusey,

of the University

of Edinburgh,

involves selected

binary colloidal

crystals (formed

from colloids with

particles of two

different sizes),

which may help

explain the behavior

of alloys; colloid

and polymer mixtures (gels and

crystals), which

can make the

colloids slightly

attractive, such as

when polymers

stabilize the ingredients in salad

dressing; and

fractal colloidal

gels (gels that

form highly disordered networks), like the fractal network that

holds Jell-O together. These elements will be used to study

fundamental colloid physics questions, colloid engineering

(using colloids as precursors for building new materials), and

the properties of new materials and their precursors. 

The experiment will be conducted on the EXpedite

PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station (EXPRESS) rack,

and testing of the integrated PCS/EXPRESS rack was completed this year. In addition, the flight experiment hardware

has been assembled and turned over to Kennedy Space Center.

Integration of flight samples into the flight hardware is under

way, and final hardware performance tests have been initiated.

PCS is scheduled to fly on STS-100 in April 2001.

Scheduled to fly on the ISS in summer 2002 is the

experiment Investigating the Structure of Paramagnetic

Aggregates From Colloidal Emulsions (InSPACE). InSPACE

will be conducted in the Microgravity Science Glovebox

(MSG) and is scheduled for launch on the first Utility Flight

(UF-1) in June 2002. (For more information about the MSG,

see p.57.)

In SPACE, led by Alice Gast, of Stanford University,

seeks to determine the effects of particle concentration, field

strength, and frequency on the lowest energy structural

configuration in a magnetorheological fluid. This research will

add to our understanding of the complex properties of

magnetorheological fluids, enabling methods of improving

their characteristics and their implementation. Researchers

want to know how a pulsed magnetic field will affect the fluid

suspension. Three different particle concentrations will be

tested during nine test runs each, for a total of 27 test runs.

The MSG will provide cameras and video recorders to view

and store the science data. Assembly of flight hardware

for InSPACE is expected to be completed in February

2001, followed by verification and environmental testing. 

Scheduled to fly on the space shuttle in August 2001

is the third Mechanics of Granular Materials (MGM-III)

experiment. MGM-III, led by PI Stein Sture and Co-I Nicholas

Costes, both of the University of Colorado, Boulder, will use

the microgravity environment to test the response of columns

of sand to compression and relaxation, which occur during

earthquakes and landslides when compacted soil loosens and

flows much like a liquid. 

In MGM’s two previous flights, researchers measured

the effect of gravity on friction between grains of dry sand

and discovered strength and stiffness properties of the sand

columns to be many times greater than conventional theory

predicted. For MGM’s third flight, investigators will study the

behavior of water-saturated sand in drained and undrained

conditions using three sand samples in nine different

experiments. The experiments are expected to provide the

first-ever measurements of sand strength and stiffness

properties and induced pore water pressures when pressure is
2000 ANNUAL REPORT

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cyclically applied and released, similar to strong ground

motions observed during earthquakes. 

The science team will also employ a new specimenreforming technique, which will provide great benefit to future

space station research as it enables the reuse and retesting of

the same sample many times under controlled initial conditions. Among the many applications of this research,

discoveries from MGM investigations may help engineers

design more earthquake-tolerant buildings, increase safety in

mining operations, aid coastal and offshore engineering

projects, and help researchers understand the geology of various planetary bodies for space exploration initiatives. 

The Collisions Into Dust Experiment-2 (COLLIDE-2),

led by Joshua Colwell, of the University of Colorado, Boulder,

studies the effects of low-velocity particle collisions, which

are believed to be responsible for the formation of planetary

rings and protoplanetary disks. For the experiment, data are

collected on the outcome of low-velocity collisions of selected

projectiles into a fine powder that simulates regolith, the dust

and small particles that coat the surfaces of most bodies in the

solar system.

The first flight of the experiment on STS-90 in April

1998 revealed an absence of any significant dust ejecta in

the collisions studied. For COLLIDE-2, which is scheduled

for launch on STS-108 in October 2001, researchers will

expand the space where the data are collected in order to find

the transition from impacts that are purely the result of the

increase of particles to impacts with some dust ejecta. They

also hope to characterize the velocity of ejecta as a function

of impact velocity and energy. Hardware design modifications

and testing for the second flight have been completed and the

flight hardware is in storage. 

The Extensional Rheology Experiment (ERE), led by

Gareth McKinley, of the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology, is intended to provide accurate measurements of

extensional (stretching) viscosity for a family of polymer

fluids and to examine the relaxation of polymer chains within

the fluid following the stretching of the fluid. Preflight testing

of the ERE flight hardware was completed in February 2000,

and the hardware was integrated with the launch vehicle

systems in March for the sounding rocket flight of the

experiment. Final integration tests on the payload were

also completed.

Although originally scheduled for launch in May

2000, the experiment’s launch was delayed until July 2000 due

to launch failures that occurred with vehicles similar to the

one being used for ERE. In July, researchers discovered

several problems that occurred during flight that minimized

the desired scientific return from the experiment. Postflight

hardware testing is in progress and corrective measures are

being developed to be implemented when future flight

opportunities become available.

Highlights 

A New Window for Viewing Particles

in Motion

Believe it or not, the windows

through which we view the world are

structurally more like a fluid than a solid

— that is, on the microscopic scale, the

particles of which they are composed

move, albeit very, very slowly. 

Researchers are interested in

this movement because many glassforming liquids behave similarly when

cooled, appearing to freeze into a solidlike structure, but retaining many of

their fluid-like properties. Theories of

the glass transition in supercooled

fluids attempt to explain how the

molecules in the fluid move, but little is

known about the spatial structures they

take on because researchers have been

unable to directly observe the behavior

of the particles in motion in three

dimensions. 

Recently, PI David Weitz and

his team of researchers began using a

confocal microscope to observe the

three-dimensional dynamics of particles

in supercooled colloidal fluids and colloidal glasses. The minimal interactions

that take place between hard-sphere

colloid particles suspended in a fluid

make them excellent models for real

systems. The hard-sphere colloids are

the simplest systems in which a transition from a fluid to a glass takes place.

The confocal microscope allows Weitz

to view the movement of individual particles in a fluid sample and to obtain

three-dimensional images of the structures they form as they approach the

glass transition. 

The microscope works by

showing researchers one thin cross

section of the colloid sample at a time.

With this tool, Weitz is able to see

exactly what is happening in the colloid

sample as it crystallizes or turns

into glass, which is something like 

being able to see how water in a lake

freezes as the temperature drops. In the

case of the colloids, the volume of solid

particles in the liquid, not the temperature, drives crystallization. Volume

fraction here is analogous to the

temperature in real systems like the

freezing lake. First, you might see individual ice crystals forming on the surface of the water, and if you could see

each layer of the water, you would

witness how the crystals begin to

attach to other crystals until the entire

lake freezes. 

By witnessing these types of

events in colloid samples, Weitz will be

able to determine what conditions trigger

the glass transition. In previous experiments involving two-dimensional, timeresolved images, researchers were able

to observe some of the cooperative

motion of the particles that is responsible for the glass transition, but were

unable to gain insight into the structure

and distribution of particle clusters that
2000 ANNUAL REPORT

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form as the sample is cooled. Likewise,

three-dimensional static images can provide only limited insight into how the

structures form.

Using the confocal microscopy

technique, Weitz and his team have

followed the motion of several thousand

colloidal particles and have characterized the size and structures of large,

extended clusters that form as the glass

transition is approached. Weitz

witnessed long chains of colloid particles moving randomly in the sample

fluid. Then, as the fluid approached

transition, a number of crystal clusters

formed, creating obstacles for the long

chains and thereby arresting any

further movement. 

A discussion of the methods

and results using this microscopy technique was published in the January 28,

2000, issue of Science. 

Geology Through a Physicist’s Eyes

Most people think of a compass,

a chisel, and hiking boots as tools for

geology. But PI Jayanth Banavar, of

Pennsylvania State University, is putting

some rather nontraditional tools to work

to predict river networks. Banavar is

using computers and elevation data from

satellites to determine the path of river

networks mathematically, a procedure

that focuses on general properties of

mathematics and physics rather than on

the traditional forces — such as weather,

erosion, and sedimentation over millions

of years — geologists look at to explain

natural landscapes. Banavar’s research

may make it possible to aid land usage

planners and natural disaster trackers in

predicting changes that will occur to a

landscape such as landslides, floods,

and erosion. 

Banavar’s research capitalizes

on the many general patterns of river

networks that are discernible over a

range of landscapes. He and his

colleagues have discovered that

wherever the location of a river basin

— be it the Nile, the Mississippi, or the

Thames — universal laws of physics

define the path of the water flow and the

dendritic design of tributaries, tributaries’

tributaries, and so on. Water sculpts the

rugged landscape in similar ways, no

matter where in the world it begins its

course, and smaller portions of a basin

mimic the pattern of the whole. Traditional

tools of geology have been unable to

explain these recurring designs. Applying

physical principles such as the path of

least resistance may hold the key to

explaining some of these behaviors.

These principles can then be translated

into the language of physicists and mathematicians — mathematical equations. 

Satellite data that can provide

point-by-point elevation measurements

are fueling Banavar’s discoveries. In the

past, the best way to gather this kind of

data was on foot and by using airplanes.

Satellite data increase the accuracy of

the measurements and allow mapping of

large expanses much more quickly. The

data are computed, and from the results,

one can discern innumerable paths that

water can follow down a basin during a

storm. Banavar and his colleagues are

hoping to find some overriding principle

that can explain the patterns. 

Banavar’s research, as well as

the work of geologists and physicists

using satellite-made digital maps, is discussed in a November 23, 1999, article

in The New York Times titled “Physicists

Invading Geologists’ Turf,” which is

available to visitors to the Times’ web

site at http://www.nytimes.com/library/

national/science/112399sci-environgeology.html.

Shedding Light on the Smallest

Invaders

What if ophthalmologists had a

tool that would allow them to detect the

buildup of tiny particles in the fluid in

the lens of the eye — particles so small

as to be undetectable by any other

method? What if this tool could also tell

doctors if treatments designed to prevent

or slow the growth of cataracts were

effective? Hoping

to give doctors a

leg up on treating and preventing cataracts, PI

Rafat Ansari and

his colleagues at

the National

Center for

Microgravity

Research on

Fluids and

Combustion,

have been hard

at work on a

state-of-the-art

instrument to do

just that. 

Colloid samples consisting of a liquid

containing hard spherical particles make

good models for the transition that

occurs when a fluid becomes a glass. A

colloid sample viewed from different

angles (labeled A, B, C, and D) shows

the arrangement of particles into an

ordered “glass” state. Determining what

conditions trigger the glass transition

may help researchers to design new

materials with specific properties.

A new method for predicting the path of rivers relies on elevation data from satellites and mathematics. This calculated

schematic of a river network may allow researchers to begin to

determine general, universal patterns of water flow that can be

applied to river networks everywhere.
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This year, researchers came one

step closer to this goal with the completion of successful human clinical trials

of the NASA-sponsored technology.

Patented in the fall of 1999, a

fiber-optic eye probe developed by

Ansari and postdoctoral fellow Kwang

Suh uses laser technology to find

cataracts in their earliest stages, when

there’s still time to arrest progress of the

disease, or in some cases, to reverse

damage. The fiber-optic probe uses

laser light–scattering technology to scan

an area of the eye’s lens for tiny crystallines of protein molecules. Laser

beams aimed at the lens undergo the

Doppler effect, diffracting at different

wave lengths when they encounter protein crystallines, thereby revealing the

lens’opacity. Afiber-optic receiver collects

the scattered light and carries

it to a photodector, which

amplifies the signal and

transforms it into electronic signals. These, in

turn, are sent to a laptop

computer that is programmed to use the data

to compute the particle size. 

The probe is able

to detect particles with

diameters ranging from 1

nanometer (about the

width of five atoms) to a

few microns (about the

width of a human hair).

Any cataracts detected

in these early stages can

undergo anti-cataract

treatment, which could

reverse, delay, or prevent

the onset of cataracts. 

The real promise

of this technology is that

it can read the exact same

area of a patient’s lens in

repeated tests. Ansari and

his team are working to

demonstrate the ability of

the probe to reproduce

reliable data. If effective,

this technology could be

used to track changes in a

patient’s eye over time.

Given this ability, doctors could assess

the efficacy of a variety of cataract

inhibitors designed to prevent or slow

the development of cataracts. 

Behind these advances in

cataract detection and the development

of sophisticated tools for tracking

changes in a patient’s eye are more than

a decade of fundamental studies in fluid

dynamics conducted on the Russian

space station, Mir, and on the space

shuttle. In the microgravity environment

of space, Ansari began observing the

link between the motion of very small

particles in fluid and the fluid dynamics

in the lens of the eye. He applied

the same light-scattering tools that are

used to measure the size and motion of

particles in microgravity to the eye. This

allowed Ansari and research partners at

the National Eye Institute of the

National Institutes of Health to track

development of cataracts in their incipient stages.

Results of Ansari’s research on

cataract detection using the lightscattering technology have been

published and reported on in the Review

of Ophthalmology.

Separating Order From Disorder

Accolades from the technology

world are heralding the invention of an

automated technique for discriminating

between the disorderly liquid phase and

the orderly crystalline phase in

high–volume fraction colloid systems.

These systems are solutions in which

small particles make up more than 50

percent of the total volume. A better

Banavar’s river network research may eventually aid in

predicting changes to the landscape, such as floods, landslides,

and erosion.

Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness

worldwide and affect 50 million people each

year. A tool to help ophthalmologists detect the

earliest stages of cataracts may give doctors a

chance to arrest the progress of the disease.

The fiber optic probe pictured in this

schematic uses laser light–scattering

technology developed for spaceflight

experiments to scan the eye’s lens for

tiny crystallites.
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understanding of how the change

between the crystalline and liquid phases

occurs in these solutions can eventually

lead to understanding how to engineer

new materials. 

The promising new technique

to determine when the phase change

occurs was developed by Mark

McDowell and his team of researchers at

Glenn Research Center (GRC). It is

expected to save researchers countless

hours in the laboratory. McDowell and

his team were honored for their work

with the Imaging Solution of the Year

2000 award, given by Advanced

Imaging, a leading publication in the

imaging field. 

All of the excitement is over

the use of a compact microscope

imaging system that can be tailored to a

data set of image frames with minimal

input from the user. Until now, researchers

had to look at thousands of images of

colloid suspensions frame by frame to

determine when the phase change from

liquid to crystalline solid began. The

work of McDowell’s team lays the

foundation for the application of intelligent processing algorithms for both

ongoing ground-based colloid research

at GRC and upcoming microgravity

experiments on the ISS. 

Some Assembly Required

You might call PIs David Weitz,

of Harvard University, and Arjun Yodh,

of the University of Pennsylvania,

tinkerers of sorts. They have long been

interested in the kinds of materials that

form when particles of different sizes are

mixed together in a colloid solution or

when polymers (long, chain-like molecules) are added to colloid solutions.

When particles of different sizes are

mixed, novel structures often result that

have completely different properties than

any of the constituent parts. 

Given a little bit of direction

from the researchers, the particles can be

encouraged to form in specific patterns

and to yield particular crystalline structures. Weitz and Yodh have succeeded in

forming a rich variety of two-dimensional fluid-like and solid-like structures using

one- and two-dimensional templates. By

stacking layer upon layer of the template

material, the researchers have obtained

symmetrical cubic crystals more than 30

layers thick. 

Templates with a series of

indentations help Weitz and Yodh direct

the assembly of their colloid particles

into desired structures. They are aided in

this maneuvering by the interactions that

take place between particles of different

diameters. Strangely enough, the smaller

particles in these mixtures command the

movement of the larger particles, herding them into the indentations on

the template. Weitz and Yodh take

advantage of this behavior, using small

particles that won’t stick to the larger

particles to push the larger particles into

place. What results is an ordered

structure comprising only the large

colloid particles. 

Weitz’ and Yodh’s research is

fueled by fundamental studies of the

dynamics of crystal-forming colloid solutions. More than 15 years of research has

gone into studying the kinds of structures

that form when particles in various proportions and of various diameters are

mixed in a fluid solution. Although

scientists are closing in on the ability to

predict the kind of structures that will

form from particular combinations of

particles, gravity introduces a degree of

uncertainty in studies performed in

laboratories on Earth.

There can be large density

differences between the particles and the

surrounding fluid. This can cause the

particles to sink in the liquid rather than

remain suspended, which ultimately

alters the kind of structures that will

form. In microgravity, the particles tend

to stay suspended in the fluid, which

makes it possible for researchers to predict

the outcome of their experiments and

eventually to obtain materials to meet

specific needs. 

Microgravity has also revealed

the importance of understanding how

crystalline structures form. By observing

the particles during the assembly process,

which often determines the properties of

the resulting material, researchers are

discovering that colloid particles can

achieve their final ordered state in somewhat unexpected ways. Understanding

why the particles behave in a particular

way and the influence that behavior has

on their structures may help researchers

manipulate the outcomes in order to

develop useful new materials. 

An article on Weitz’ and Yodh’s

research titled “Entropically Driven

Colloidal Crystallization on Patterned

Surfaces” appeared in the August 21,

2000, issue of Physical Review Letters,

vol. 85(8), pp. 1770–3.

More than 15 years of research has gone

into studying the kinds of structures that

form when particles in various proportions and of various diameters are mixed

in a fluid solution. These colloid samples were grown on the space shuttle

and contain particles of two different

sizes. Growing samples in microgravity

yields much better-defined crystals than

can be obtained on Earth, allowing their

properties to be studied in detail. In the

future, researchers hope to be able to

predict the kinds of structures that will

form from particular combinations and

concentrations of particles.

A compact microscope imaging

system saves researchers countless

hours in the laboratory in search of

the transition between disorderly

liquid phases and orderly crystalline phases in high volume fraction colloid systems. Developers of

the system received the Year 2000

Imaging Solution award.
2000 36 ANNUAL REPORT

OVERVIEW FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS

6

o you ever wonder how small a computer

will be 50 years from now? Or what new tools a

doctor will have to detect cancer? Or what

new technology might replace CD players? Or if

we will have the instruments we need to make deep

space exploration possible? Fundamental physicists

are the people finding the answers to these questions. But they don’t start their search by asking

about technology. They start with much more basic

questions about how the universe works.

Science is driven by

human curiosity about nature. In

the study of fundamental physics,

scientists wish to uncover and

understand the basic underlying principles that govern the behavior of

the world around us. Fundamental

physics research, therefore, establishes a foundation for many other branches of

science and provides the intellectual underpinning needed to maintain and further develop our

highly technological society. 

Researchers in the discipline have two

quests that motivate laboratory studies and experiments in space. One of these quests is to explore

and understand the fundamental physical laws

governing matter, space, and time. Deep examination of the smallest and largest building blocks

that make up the universe will yield a better understanding of the basic ideas, or theories, that describe

the world. The space environment provides

access to different space-time coordinates and

frees experimenters from the disturbing effects

caused by gravity on Earth.

Researchers also seek to discover and understand the organizing principles of nature from

which structure and complexity

emerge. While the basic laws of

nature may be simple, the universe

that has arisen under these laws is

amazingly complex and diverse.

By studying nature apart from

Earth’s gravity, we can better understand how the

universe developed and how best to employ these

principles in service to humanity.

The pursuit of these quests will greatly benefit society in many ways over the long run. For

example, the study of physical laws and natural

principles with unprecedented precision requires

advances in instrumentation that provide the foundation for tomorrow’s breakthrough technologies.

These advances contribute to the competitiveness of American industry and further support

and enhance the presence of humans in space. 

To address the two long-term quests of the

program, research is currently being pursued in four

areas: gravitational and relativistic physics, laser

cooling and atomic physics, condensed matter

physics, and biological physics. Gravitational and

relativistic physics is the study of gravity’s influence on the physical world and of Einstein’s

Theory of General Relativity, which puts gravity

at the heart of the structure of the universe. Laser

cooling and atomic physics is the study of atoms

and how they manifest on a microscopic scale the

same fundamental laws that govern the universe on

a large scale. Condensed matter physics, in which

matter is also studied at an atomic level, specifically

examines the properties of atoms in liquids and

solids, the states of matter in which the atoms are

condensed. Biological physics explores the

boundary between biology and physics.

Fundamental physics probes the basic nature of our universe on both a cosmic and atomic scale. Though investigations in this field generate, explore,

and confirm scientific theories, like Einstein’s theory of General Relativity,

they also provide the foundation for future technologies that will become part

of our everyday lives. Computers, CD players, and MRIs are all commonplace technological tools that had their beginnings in a physicist asking a

fundamental question about the world around us.

D
2000 ANNUAL REPORT

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6

Program Summary

A NASA Research Announcement (NRA) soliciting

new proposals for research in microgravity fundamental

physics was released in February 2000. The NRA reflected the

program’s continuing commitments to engage the best

researchers working in the established areas within the discipline and to seek out new areas of study that may benefit from

a microgravity environment. The 2000 NRA also solicited

research in biological physics, a newly established area of the

fundamental physics program. As the understanding of many

biological activities requires an understanding of underlying

physics principles, the time was ripe to encourage work that

links and supports both physics and biology. 

Based on peer review of the 109 proposals submitted

in response to the NRA, 36 ground-based investigations were

selected for funding, with seven of those in the new area of

biological physics. In addition, five investigations were chosen

for development as flight experiments. These flight projects

included two guest investigations for the first mission of the

Low Temperature Microgravity Physics Facility (LTMPF) on

the International Space Station (ISS), one investigation in

gravitational physics, and two experiments in laser cooling and

atomic physics that will be natural follow-ups to flight experiments in atomic clocks currently slated for the ISS. A complete

list of selected research projects can be found on the World

Wide Web at http://peer1.idi.usra.edu/peer_review/press/

ls/pr00-02.htm. In addition, a listing of all ongoing fundamental physics research projects, along with the names of the

investigators conducting the research, is provided in

the Appendix.

The progress to date of ongoing research projects was

presented at the annual NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

Investigators’ Workshop on Fundamental Physics, which took

place in Solvang, California, June 19–20, 2000. The workshop

was an opportunity for investigators in the program to present

research developments and results and to share ideas with

others in the field. At the 2000 workshop, 33 oral presentations

and 18 poster presentations were given. 

The workshop also focused on future developments in

the program, including the reorganization of the microgravity

research effort at NASA headquarters and some changes in

organization at JPL. Special planning sessions were held

regarding collaborative work on the development of atomic

clocks, experiments that are potential candidates for flight

on the space shuttle, and the International Announcement of

Opportunity for proposals for

research to be conducted on the

ISS. The fundamental physics

program supported a total of 36

ground-based investigations and

10 flight investigations in fiscal

year (FY) 2000.

Flight Experiments

The flight program in

fundamental physics achieved

several milestones this year. As

development of the LTMPF

planned for the ISS progressed,

experiments slated to fly in the

facility also moved forward. The

LTMPF will be able to maintain

two experiments at a time at temperatures below 2 kelvins for up

to six months. A nonadvocate

science panel and a nonadvocate

engineering panel reviewed six

candidate LTMPF experiments for their science significance,

need for microgravity, science requirements, and experiment

implementation plans. Based on those reviews, four

experiments in condensed matter physics were selected for

flight on the first two LTMPF missions.

Three of the four experiments chosen explore the

properties of superfluid helium. Helium, when cooled to very

low temperatures (2.17 kelvins), transitions from a liquid to a

superfluid, a state of matter that exhibits unusual properties.

Studying the conditions of temperature and pressure at which

the transition occurs, called the critical point for superfluidity,

has proven the helium transition to be an excellent model of

the physics of other transitions between states, such as the

liquid-gas critical point. 

The Critical Dynamics in Microgravity experiment, 

which is scheduled for the first LTMPF mission, will explore

the properties of superfluid helium as it is subjected to a heat

flux, and the Microgravity Scaling Theory Experiment will test

scaling law predictions for thermophysical properties of

A laser-cooled atomic clock in orbit would become

the most accurate timepiece known. A diagram of the

proposed PARCS shows an atom preparation region,

where atoms are cooled and trapped. Then the atoms

are launched through the cavity region, where microgravity conditions keep the atoms flowing straight to

the detection region.
2000 38 ANNUAL REPORT

FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS

6

systems near critical points. The Boundary Effects on

the Superfluid Transition experiment, scheduled for the

second LTMPF mission, will determine the effects of

boundaries on the thermal conductivity of superfluid helium.

Also chosen for the second mission, the Superconducting

Microwave Oscillator is a project to develop an oscillator that

will support highly stable atomic clocks that can be used to

test theories about relativity and in other applications (For

more details on the LTMPF, see p.55).

Work advanced this year on two flight experiments to

develop atomic clocks using laser-cooled atoms. Atomic

clocks are the most accurate timekeepers on Earth, but gravity

limits their performance. Development of an atomic clock that

could take advantage of a microgravity environment would

enable an improvement in accuracy by perhaps as much as a

hundredfold. An atomic clock on the ISS could serve as a primary frequency standard, providing labs around the world with

the premier definition of the second, and perhaps enabling

experiments in fundamental physics that were not possible previously. Such a clock also could aid in deep space navigation

and navigation on Earth by improving the accuracy of the

Global Positioning System (GPS). 

One of the atomic clock projects, the Primary Atomic

Reference Clock in Space (PARCS), is developing a

cesium-beam atomic clock for the ISS. This year, the PARCS

team at the National Institute for Standards and Technology

(NIST), in collaboration with JPL, developed a novel

technique using phase modulation interrogation to eliminate most of the clock’s sensitivity to vibration. The

technique proved successful in the ground-based clock at

NIST. Other technical progress included the design of a

nonmagnetic shutter and a laser system, along with studies of

using GPS techniques to transfer the time determined by the

ISS clock to ground laboratories.

The other project, the Rubidium Clock Experiment

(RACE), passed a milestone science review this year, and the

RACE team developed a new method for eliminating a major

source of error in atomic clocks — frequency shift of the

atoms due to cold collisions. In atomic clocks, lasers are used

to slow the fast movement of gas atoms so that more accurate

measurement of them can be made. However, one problem

with slowing the atoms is that they expand and run into each

other, which can interfere with the accuracy of the clock. The

method to cancel the frequency shift caused by collisions that

do occur was developed and tested by the RACE team at Yale

University. A summary of the results, authored by Chad Fertig

and Kurt Gibble, both of Yale University, was published in

Physical Review Letters, vol. 85, p. 1622 (2000).

Several projects that will be conducted on carriers

other than the ISS are also under way. An experiment in condensed matter physics, the second Critical Viscosity of Xenon

(CVX-2) experiment, has been manifested on space shuttle

mission STS-107, which is scheduled to fly in 2001. Work 

progressed on readying the CVX-2 hardware for integration in

the shuttle. This experiment, which had a successful flight on

shuttle mission STS-85 in 1997, measures the change in

viscosity of a fluid near its critical point, laying the

groundwork for scientists to better understand viscosity. 

In FY 2000, a baseline design of the science

instrument for the Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle

(STEP) was completed and a first set of drawings was

released. STEP is a sophisticated scientific test of the equivalence principle, which states that objects of different densities,

sizes, and weights should fall at the same rate of acceleration.

In the experiment, test masses will be in freefall as they orbit

around Earth on a satellite for more than a year. Conducting

the experiment in this disturbance-free environment and over

such a long fall will yield results that are an order of magnitude more accurate than previous tests of the equivalence principle.

A number of technological problems were resolved

this year for STEP, including the superconducting magnetic

bearing, which was resolved by using thin-film laser circuitry,

and a helium tidal disturbance, which was resolved

using aerogel. The European Space Agency (ESA), NASA’s

partner in the STEP project, completed a feasibility study of a

low-cost spacecraft service module with favorable

results in April 2000.

Technological advances were made on the STEP project this

year. Pictured here are the thin-film superconducting magnetic bearing developed for STEP and the aerogel that will

restrict the motion of liquid helium in the STEP dewar.
2000 ANNUAL REPORT

FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS

39

6

Highlights

Superfluids: Keyholes to Super

Technologies

When helium is cooled to

extremely low temperatures (about 2

kelvins) it remains in a liquid state but

exhibits some very unusual properties.

For instance, it has no resistance to flow,

so it can leak through tiny holes that

even gaseous helium cannot penetrate,

and it has infinite heat conductivity.

Helium in this state is called a superfluid. Other properties of superfluid

helium can provide a window on the

quantum world, as quantum effects are

often magnified in helium as it nears its

transition to a superfluid. The findings

of two scientists in the fundamental

physics program as they explored some

of these exceptional properties of superfluid helium in FY 2000 may prove

useful not only in understanding this

fascinating state of matter but also in

developing new technologies. 

The Physics of a Super-Small Chip

As the quest for miniaturization

of devices continues, scientists are

asking themselves if size will change the

rules for how a sample of matter

behaves. For instance, in a transistor

circuit on a computer chip, an electron

moves around freely in what is

called “the bulk” — the interior area

of a material — and only occasionally

bounces into the surface of the

transistor. If that chip is reduced in size,

eventually the electron will spend more

time hitting the surface than traveling around in the bulk, so the surface

will have a greater effect on the

electron’s behavior. This is called the

confinement effect. 

Experimentally testing the

theory predicting the effect of confinement on the properties of materials is

difficult because the samples must be so

small that the behavior of the atoms

becomes impossible to observe or

measure. Superfluid helium provided

the answer to this problem. In a very

thin sample of helium near the transition

to the superfluid state, the effects of

confinement become dramatically magnified — by about 10,000 times. The

only catch was that gravity causes a pressure difference in the samples because the

helium at the top of the sample weighs

down upon the helium at the bottom.

The nonuniform pressure and the resulting

nonuniform density distort results.

John Lipa, of Stanford

University, designed an experiment in

confinement effects that would be conducted in orbit, where a sample of

superfluid helium would be free from

the effects of gravity and thus free of the

pressure differences found in the earthbound sample. The Confined Helium

Experiment (CHeX) was conducted successfully on the shuttle in 1998, and this

year Lipa and his team finished analysis

of the CHeX data and published their

results in Physical Review Letters, vol.

84, p. 4894 (2000). The experiment

results agreed well with theoretical prediction of confinement behavior, which

should give physicists a good start for

designing the ever-smaller circuits and

devices of the future.

Spin-Doctoring With Super

Gyroscopes

What if you were

moving, spinning slowly in

fact, and had no landmarks

or horizon in sight? How

could you detect the change

in motion? You would need

a gyroscope. Gyroscopes are

common instruments used in

the navigation of ships,

planes, and spacecraft. The

Russian Space Station Mir

used 11 gyroscopes to maintain its orientation to the sun

for power collection. The

GPS also depends on

gyroscopes for measurements of the Earth’s rotation

vectors. Measurements from

an ultrasensitive gyroscope

could improve the system

CHeX was carried in the open cargo bay of the

space shuttle during the fourth U.S.

Microgravity Payload mission.

Results from a spaceflight experiment called “CHeX” are contributing to

the theoretical understanding that will help the engineering of ever-smaller

computer chips for new computing systems of the future.
2000 40 ANNUAL REPORT

FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS

6

with resulting benefits for navigation as

well as for the prediction of weather

patterns, ocean currents, and earthquakes. 

Richard Packard and his team

at Stanford University are using superfluid helium-3 to develop such a highly

precise instrument. In their experiment,

two baths of superfluid helium are divided by two membranes, thin silicon chips

with many tiny holes. In fact, each membrane has 4,225 holes that are each 100

nanometers, or billionths of a meter, in

diameter. The membranes allow what

are called weak links to be established

between the two baths. When pressure is

applied across the system, it oscillates,

which causes the helium to travel

through two established loops, or paths,

and through the weak links. As the setup

is rotated, the flow of the superfluid

through the links is affected. The flow in

one loop becomes augmented as the

other decreases. The gyroscope can be

set to have a specific amplitude of flow,

and then if variations are seen, rotation

is indicated. 

The gyroscope currently is

sensitive enough to detect rotation 100

to 1,000 times slower than the daily

rotation of the Earth. If the gyroscope

were taken to space, where vibrations

and other disturbances are eliminated, it

is thought that the instrument could be a

million times more sensitive.

But this year, Packard’s

team found that the

potential sensitivity

might be even greater.

They discovered a bistability in the weak links of

the experiment, which

means that when a specific amplitude of flow

is reached, the amplitude suddenly jumps to

a higher level. At this

level the sensitivity of the

gyroscope to rotation doubles. Such an ultrasensitive gyroscope may

greatly improve our

navigational instruments

for ground, air, and space

travel. The discovery of

bistability was reported in

Physical Review Letters,

vol. 83, p. 3860 (1999).

The Coldest Twosomes Known

Physicists in recent years have

been fascinated by the study of atoms at

extremely cold temperatures. They often

cool the atoms with laser light, which

slows them almost to a standstill, an

excellent condition for observation. If

the atoms are cooled to low-enough temperatures, they have been observed to

rearrange themselves into a highly

ordered state, so that their behavior is in

a sense magnified. 

This new quantum state is

called Bose-Einstein condensation. It

had previously only been achieved with

atoms, but Daniel Heinzen and his

science team at the University of Texas

have changed all that. They have used

lasers to coax some rubidium atoms in a

Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) cloud

to pair up to form molecules — the

coldest molecules ever achieved in a lab.

The ability to observe molecules in a

BEC state would open up a new area of

investigation with the potential for

discoveries about how molecules interact

with one another. Heinzen is currently

trying to create a whole cloud of

BEC molecules.

As with BECs of atoms,

condensates of molecules would be

perfect for observation if gravity didn’t

cause them to drop out of view of the

measuring instruments. Optical and

magnetic traps are used to keep the

atoms in place in ground-based experiments with condensates, but these

methods can interfere with observations.

Eventually, the microgravity environment of orbit may hold the key to

getting the most out of watching these

very still, very cold particles of matter. A

report on Heinzen’s work appeared in

the February 11, 2000, issue of Science.

Atom Lasers: May the Force 

Be Amplified

Lasers have become common

tools, used in everything from CD

players to grocery store scanners to

instruments for surgery and cell

manipulation. What seems next on the

technological horizon, however, is a

beam composed of not photons (light

particles) moving in perfect step with

each other, but of atoms moving in unison — in essence, an atom laser. 

A gyroscope developed through fundamental research into

the properties of superfluid helium has measured the rotation of the Earth with unprecedented sensitivity.

When optical lasers were first developed,

everyday uses like grocery store scanners

were hard to predict. An atom laser may

hold the same potential for unimagined

technologies.
2000 ANNUAL REPORT

FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS

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6

Wolfgang Ketterle’s team at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

(MIT) created an atom laser in 1997

using the coldest substance on Earth —

a BEC. BECs are formed when a gas is

cooled to one millionth of a kelvin, or

more than a million times colder than

interstellar space. At this temperature, a

transformation occurs. Rather than

moving about independently, the atoms

of the gas begin to move or march in

lockstep, displaying uniform behavior. 

Much as a flash of light is used

to stimulate electrons, which in turn give

off photons in an optical laser, Ketterle

was able to use laser light to stimulate a

BEC to create a stream of atoms still in

the BEC state. However, the stream was

very weak. The question became

whether the stream could be amplified in

a way similar to the way the emission of photons is amplified inside an

optical laser. Indeed, this year,

Ketterle’s MIT team accomplished

just that.

The team used a pulse of

laser light to create an initial

stream of atoms from a BEC and

then a second pulse that excited

the BEC and caused some of the

atoms to join the initial stream.

These added atoms were still in

lockstep with the original.

Although the resulting beam

was very weak due to the current limitation on the size of a

BEC sample, the proof that amplification is possible is a very important

step in realizing an atom laser for technological purposes. One possible use of

an atom laser is to deposit atoms in very

controlled ways to create new materials

and nanostructures.

A microgravity environment

may one day contribute to the creation

of larger BEC samples. One of the

obstacles to larger samples is the ability

to contain or hold in place these very

still, very cold atoms. In orbit, samples

would not fall through their containers

as they do on Earth, which would

eliminate the need for optical or

magnetic traps that are currently used to

suspend the atoms but can also interfere

with their behavior. A report on the atom

beam amplification technique by

Ketterle and his group was published in

the December 9, 1999, issue of Nature.

The development of an atom

laser amplification device is only the latest

in a series of important achievements for

Ketterle, starting with his lab’s creation

of a BEC in 1995 and including subsequent studies of the BEC’s properties. In

recognition of these accomplishments,

in FY 2000 Ketterle was inducted

into the American Academy of Arts and

Sciences and awarded the Benjamin

Franklin Medal in Physics, conferred by

the Franklin Institute.

Dynamic Inventions

While working to improve

equipment used in his superfluid helium

spaceflight experiment, Robert Duncan

and his team at the University of New

Mexico have developed two new instruments that may one day be of use in

different applications. Because the

Critical Dynamics in Microgravity

experiment measures very slight variations in temperature in samples of superfluid helium, it requires extremely sensitive

thermometers. Duncan has used a new

metal alloy in the sensing element for

these high-resolution thermometers,

which have improved the sensitivity of

his experiment and opened up possibilities for other uses as well. The sensing

element could be used to detect very

slight differences in the temperature of

tissue in the body, potentially revealing

cancerous tissue, and the element might

also prove useful in analyzing the light

emitted by stars.

Duncan and his team have also

devised an ultraminiature cryogenic

valve. Duncan needed the valve to control the liquids involved in the experiment. Because a smaller valve has less

impact on the system it regulates, with

this miniature valve, Duncan will not

have to wait long after an experiment

adjustment for the system to reach equilibrium. The valve may prove helpful to

many scientists involved in cryogenic

research and to engineers developing

dilution refrigerators, or refrigerators

that hold temperatures of 0.02kelvin.

An atom beam amplified: The left

image shows the shadow of the initial

(or input) beam of atoms. The right

image shows the shadow of the output

beam, obviously amplified after the

BEC was illuminated by a pulse of

laser light.

The apparatus Ketterle and his team devised to

amplify an atom beam.

A sensor developed for a superfluid helium spaceflight experiment may also

prove useful in analyzing the light emitted by stars.
2000 42 ANNUAL REPORT

he metal alloys used

to build airplanes, the circuits in a computer, the

plastic used for a heart

valve, the composite metallic/ceramic materials used in

industrial turbine blades —

all of these materials have

specific properties that

make them the right choice

for the products they are

used in. Materials scientists

are always on the lookout

for ways to improve the

properties of materials and

to create materials that have

new properties for new purposes. 

A material’s properties, such as how strong,

how durable, or how poor or

efficient a conductor it is,

are determined by the material’s molecular structure. The molecular structure is determined by the

method and conditions under which the material is

produced. For example, if a mixture of a liquid metal

containing ceramic particles is solidified at one speed,

those ceramic bits may congregate in undesired ways,

causing the processed material to crack or be

brittle. If, on the other hand, the same molten

material is solidified at a different speed,

the ceramic parts may be more evenly

distributed throughout the solidified

material, lending it desirable

strength. By learning how to alter

the conditions of material processing

to get desired properties, investigators may learn how to

manufacture materials with more useful properties than

are currently available.

Because most solid materials are formed from a

liquid melt or a vapor, the production processes for most

materials include steps that are very heavily influenced

by the force of gravity. Typical gravity-related effects

that take place in materials processing include buoyancydriven convection (fluid flow caused by temperaturedriven density differences in a material), sedimentation

(settling of different materials, liquid and/or solid, into

distinct layers), and hydrostatic pressure (differences in

pressure within a quantity of material due to the material

at the top weighing down on the material at the bottom).

Observing, monitoring, and studying material production

in microgravity is beneficial because it allows researchers

to isolate some of the underlying mechanisms that

govern how materials are formed and to determine how

those mechanisms affect the structure and properties of

the material. This can increase our fundamental understanding of materials and possibly result in improved

methods for processing materials on Earth. 

The microgravity materials science program 

currently sponsors research in the areas of metals and

alloys, electronic and photonic materials, ceramics,

glasses, and polymers. Some new areas of

research interest, discussed

below, were also

introduced

this

year.

OVERVIEW

T

Everyday products used in construction, transportation, medical applications, and

communication technologies rely on the special properties of materials.

Experiments in microgravity can offer new understanding of how processing

conditions affect the properties of materials and offer insight into the development of novel materials for new applications.

MATERIALS SCIENCE

7
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7

Program Summary

Researchers from universities,

companies, and organizations across the

country compete for funding in the materials science program by submitting

research proposals in response to biennial

NASA Research Announcements

(NRAs). Each proposal is evaluated by a

peer-review committee and selected on

the bases of scientific merit, applicability

of the project to NASA’s goals, and feasibility. Fiscal year (FY) 2000 saw the

end of one round of this cyclical process

with the implementation of all of the

grants and contracts for the 65 research

proposals selected as a result of the 1998 microgravity materials

science NRA. Sixty of the grants funded ground-based

research, and the remaining five were flight-definition tasks. A

list of selected researchers and their investigation titles is

available on the World Wide Web http://microgravity.hq.nasa.

gov/archives/98-HEDS-05_selections.htm. With the addition of

these research projects to ongoing investigations, a total of 163

principal investigators (PIs) and 302 co-investigators participated in the program during FY 2000. A listing of all ongoing

materials science research projects, along with the names of

the investigators conducting the research, is provided in the

Appendix.

A new cycle of NRA preparation began at the Fourth

NASA Microgravity Materials Science Conference, sponsored

by the Microgravity Research Division and held June 6–8,

2000, in Huntsville, Alabama. The conference attracted more

than 325 attendees and served to spark further scientific

interest in materials research in microgravity. Papers and

posters featuring work currently sponsored by the program

were presented, and the next microgravity materials

science NRA, which will be released in the spring of 2001,

was discussed. 

Some new areas in materials science

deserving of heightened focus were presented at

the conference. These areas, which could provide

fundamental knowledge that may contribute

to NASA’s long-term exploration goals, include

nanotechnology, biomaterials, and materials for

radiation protection. Nanotechnology involves the

creation and study of materials and systems that

operate on the scale of a billionth of a meter.

Understanding such systems may hold the key to

miniaturization, which is desirable for long-term

missions, as it could lower the weight and volume,

and therefore the cost, of mission payloads. The

development of biomaterials, materials that are

inspired by or derived from biological systems,

could be beneficial to crew health monitoring or

spacecraft systems maintenance over long

durations. And materials to protect crewmembers

from solar radiation, a danger to which they

could be exposed for longer periods than ever

before on missions to Mars, for example, are of

paramount importance to ensure astronaut health.

(Radiation protection materials were also the

focus of two other workshops this year; these

workshops are described below.)

An In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU)

Workshop was held in conjunction with the conference. Because it would be extremely impractical for astronauts to bring everything they need

with them for stays of more than a year on

another planet, it is important that the potential

uses of resources and materials available in situ,

or at the site, be maximized. Examples of ISRU include harvesting breathable oxygen from other atmospheres, recovering

minerals from martian soil, and even making fuel for a return

trip to Earth from materials found at a spacecraft’s destination

site. The workshop provided a forum for researchers to evaluate and prioritize materials processing issues in lunar- and

martian-type environments. Invited speakers and investigators

funded by the microgravity materials science program under

the Human Exploration and Development of Space (HEDS)

initiative were featured.

One of the two workshops exploring issues related to

radiation held during FY 2000 was the Radiation Shielding

Materials Workshop, which took place August 8–9, 2000, in

Berkeley, California. The focus of this workshop was

threefold: to develop a roadmap to bring transport code

development for radiation shielding materials to a successful

conclusion, to recommend research to be solicited in the next

NRA, and to suggest some measures as goals for radiation

protection for future missions. The other workshop,

Revolutionary Concepts of Radiation Shielding for Human

Space Exploration, was held September 18–19, 2000, at

Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). At this meeting, NASA

Nanotechnology, a focus of the materials program, may provide new miniature technologies for space exploration.

Pictured here are computer models of a

nanotube and a fullerene, materials with

unique properties formed from carbon

molecules.
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Administrator Daniel Goldin was briefed on the findings of an

assessment of revolutionary physical sciences radiation protection strategies. Those findings included a breadth of ideas,

from revolutionary materials to magnetic fields to hitching

rides on asteroids.

Two notable invitations were extended to participants

in the microgravity materials science program in FY 2000. In

July 2000, Donald Gillies, of MSFC, gave an invited talk at

the Gordon Conference on High-Temperature Materials,

Processes, and Diagnostics. The presentation covered those

high-temperature materials science experiments slated for the

International Space Station (ISS). The experiments Gillies

discussed covered glasses, metal strengthening, growing electronic crystals, thermophysical property measurement, and

transparent analog materials.

Jennifer Lewis, of the University of Illinois, UrbanaChampaign, was invited to write a centennial feature on

“Colloidal Processing of Ceramics” for the Journal of the

American Ceramic Society. The article was published in

October 2000 and was featured on the cover of the issue.

Lewis is the PI for the experiment Colloidal Stability in

Complex Fluids.

Other notable papers published during FY 2000

included “Polarity Effects of Substrate Surface in Homoepitaxial

ZnO Film Growth,” written by Shen Zhu, of MSFC, et al.,

which appeared in the Journal of Crystal Growth. The paper

discusses the effects of two polar surfaces that used zinc oxide

single-crystal substrates for homoepitaxial film growth.

Another, titled “The Effect of Microgravity on the Growth of

Silica Nanostructures,” was accepted for publication in

Langmuir, a journal published by the American Chemical

Society. The work represents a collaboration between NASAfunded investigators at Rice University, Lawrence Berkeley

National Laboratory, and MSFC.

Flight Experiments

Many materials science experiments slated to be performed aboard the ISS made significant progress toward their

goals this year. The materials science discipline will have two

primary facilities for conducting experiments on the station:

the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG), a small, contained

unit shared among all the disciplines; and the Materials

Science Research Facility (MSRF), a three-rack system that

will feature modular, swappable components to increase the

facility’s versatility.

One of the experiments that will make use of the

MSG is Pore Formations and Mobility (PFM), for which

Richard Grugel, of MSFC, is the PI. PFM will look at the formation of materials that are directionally solidified (i.e., the

melt is “frozen” from one end of the sample to the other) in

microgravity. Occasionally this process causes undesirable

holes, or pores, in the solid. The experiment will be performed

using a transparent material called succinonitrile; the transparency of the sample allows the researchers to directly

observe and record how the pores are formed and how they

move during processing. With a better understanding of this

phenomenon, researchers may be able to eliminate the formation of pores in the future. PFM hardware to be used in the

glovebox was assessed for readiness in the experiment’s

design review preboard and then successfully passed functional

and procedural validation tests in the MSG ground unit, a

duplicate facility that allows reviewers to determine, as much

as is possible in a 1-g environment, that the experiment will

work once it is in orbit.

Another experiment that will be conducted in the

Microgravity Science Glovebox, Solidification Using a Baffle

in Sealed Ampoules (SUBSA), also completed its design

review preboard this year, and the ground unit to test the

experiment was assembled. SUBSA tests the performance of

an automatically moving baffle (a plate in the sample container

that moves as a result of the expansion and contraction of the

sample material melting and freezing) in microgravity to determine the behavior of encapsulated liquids in microgravity and

the possible advantages to studying liquids enclosed in such an

apparatus. It is hoped that adding the baffle to the directional

Investigators are working to identify the best materials for

radiation shielding during long-term space travel and a stay

on a planetary base.
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solidification process will significantly reduce convection that

naturally occurs in the melt and result in better-mixed, less-segregated alloy materials at no greater cost than current solidification

methods. Aleksander Ostrogorsky, of Rensselaer Polytechnic

Institute, is the PI for SUBSA.

The Materials Science Research Facility, a facility

that will house microgravity materials science experiments in

Destiny, the U.S. laboratory module of the ISS, participated in

an ISS facility re-plan review, a process for reassessing the

MSRF program to assure that procedures are being implemented appropriately. The MSRF comprises three modular payload

racks, called Materials Science Research Racks (MSRRs). The

first MSRR (MSRR-1) was granted authority to proceed

through its critical design review, as was the Quench Module

Insert, an MSFC-developed furnace insert for the MSRR-1.

(For more information about the MSRF, see p. 55.)

Two experiments destined eventually for the ISS were

flight-tested this year aboard NASA’s KC-135 aircraft, an airplane that flies in parabolic trajectories to produce limited

periods of microgravity conditions. One experiment tested was

Identification and Control of Gravity-Related Defect Formation

During Melt Growth of Electro-Optic Single Crystals: Sillenites,

headed by August Witt, of the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology. Witt took advantage of the microgravity conditions (which lasted

less than 20

seconds at a time)

to better prepare

for long-duration

microgravity

investigations.

The materials Witt

is studying have

properties that suit

them for a wide

range of optoelectronic substances and

devices, but the

inability to control

defects in the

materials as they

solidify impedes

the realization of

their full potential.

The microgravity

experiment is

intended to help

develop processing methods that

will enhance the

ability to manipulate the structure

and properties of

the materials.

The other experiment tested aboard the KC-135 was

Transient Interfacial Phenomena in Miscible Polymer Systems

(TIPMPS), headed by John Pojman, of the University of

Southern Mississippi. TIPMPS tested a theoretical model that

is almost 100 years old which has yet to be verified.

The theory predicts that convection can be induced at the

transient interface between miscible fluids, fluids that combine

thoroughly when mixed together, through variations in

temperature and concentration, causing the miscible fluids to

act like immiscible fluids, or fluids that maintain separate

phases when combined with each other. If this theory is proven

through experiments in microgravity, it may have an effect on

how researchers process materials in space.

A modular system of components designed to assist

the ISS crew in restraining and transferring payload equipment

passed both a safety and a design review. The Payload Equipment

Restraint System (PERS) combines straps, mesh pockets, Kevlar,

Velcro, and various connecting devices into a system that attaches

to the ISS’s rack seat track system, preventing tools from

“floating” away while astronauts are at work in the microgravity

environment of orbit. Although PERS was originally intended

to assist crewmembers working at the MSRF, the system,

which was designed by students at Auburn University, will

now be used throughout the ISS. PERS is currently awaiting

deployment on STS-102 (Utility Flight 5A.1).

Designed by students at Auburn University, the

Payload Equipment Restraint System holds tools in

place for ISS crews.

cience concept reviews were completed for a number of materials science experiments during FY 2000. These

experiments, listed below, are now awaiting the panel’s formal notice of authority to proceed:

o Properties of Undercooled Glass-Forming Metallic

Alloys, by William Johnson, of the California Institute of

Technology, examines various thermophysical properties of

undercooled glass-forming metallic alloys.

o Transitions in Undercooled Liquid Phases, by Richard

Weber, of Containerless Research, Inc., seeks to expand the

knowledge base related to liquid-phase processing of technologically important oxide materials.

o Gravitational Effects on Distortion in Sintering, by

Randall German, of Pennsylvania State University, examines

the role of porosity in liquid phase sintering (the formation

of a coherent mass by heating a material without melting it).

o Transient Dendritic Solidification Experiment*, by

Matthew Koss, of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, investigates time-dependent dendritic growth.

o Crystallization of Oxide Melts in Space*, by Delbert

Day, of the University of Missouri, Rolla, examines the fundamental issues of why melts in microgravity form glass

more easily and why the chemical homogeneity of these

glasses is better than that of the glasses made on Earth.

o Spaceflight Holography Investigation in a Virtual

Apparatus*, by James Trolinger, of Metrolaser, Inc., seeks

to understand the physics of particle interactions with fluids

and other particles in low–Reynolds number flows in microgravity.

*These projects have been recommended to proceed toward

requirements definition reviews.

S
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Highlights

Student Inventor Has It All Sealed Up

Holes in membranes or films

meant to separate different types of

materials can cause big problems, allowing

substances to penetrate the barrier and

get to places they don’t belong. Andrew

Neice, an undergraduate student working

with PI Alan Greenberg on a NASAfunded project at the University of

Colorado, Boulder, has found a way to

solve those problems, and for his effort,

he was chosen as a BF Goodrich

Collegiate Inventor of the Year. Neice,

one of only three undergraduate students

in the country to receive the prestigious

award, earned a cash prize and induction

into the National Inventors Hall of Fame

in Akron, Ohio.

The device and method developed

by Neice use a nonuniform electric field

to control the pore structure of

porous membranes and films. Initial

studies indicated that this device could

be used to reduce or eliminate macrovoid

defects — pinholes — in the material

that can undermine the effectiveness of

the films for such uses as desalinization

of seawater, water treatment, and

delivery of pharmaceuticals. A patent for

Neice’s device was filed by the

University of Colorado in June 2000.

Negotiations are now taking place with a

membrane manufacturer for licensing

rights to the invention.

Getting a Charge out of 

Levitating Materials

Although clinging clothes are

the things that most often come to mind

when one thinks of static electricity, the

phenomenon can be, in fact, an extremely useful tool for the microgravity

research program. The Electrostatic

Levitator (ESL), a ground-based facility

used in the program, makes use of static

electricity to suspend samples of material in a vacuum chamber for study. The

ESL is a crucial facility for the groundbased microgravity research program, as

it allows researchers to examine molten

material samples without possible interference by a container. 

This technique, also known as

containerless processing, has several major

advantages for materials scientists. One is

that a container may contaminate a pure

sample, so being able to process the

sample in a containerless environment

can be a real boon for researchers.

Another advantage is that the processing

temperatures necessary for some materials may be so high that only expensive

and exotic container materials will

suffice; therefore, containerless processing is cheaper and more practical.

Finally, with containerless processing,

undercooling experiments become possible in which the material is coerced into

falling well below its equilibrium

freezing point before nucleation can

occur. New and exciting structures can

be obtained by this means.

Levitation of sample materials

is much easier to accomplish in microgravity, as the amount of energy required

is considerably reduced. Nevertheless,

the ESL is able to perform many of the

experiments previously requiring the

containerless environment of the space

shuttle. While the problems of gravityinduced convection and sedimentation

remain, the ESL can enable many useful

measurements of a levitated sample.

In FY 2000, the ESL was

upgraded to allow processing of multiple

types of material samples by different

PIs. One of the experiments performed

in the ESL, A Study of the Undercooling

Behavior of Immiscible Metal Alloys in

the Absence of Crucible-Induced

Nucleation, led by PI Michael Robinson,

of MSFC, resulted in the publication of

a paper titled “High Undercooling of

Ni59Nb41 Alloy in a Containerless

Electrostatic Levitation Facility”, by

Robinson et al., in the November 13,

2000, issue of Applied Physics Letters.

Through his work, Robinson has decisively proved that there is no miscibility

gap for this composition and that much

greater undercooling of this particular

alloy is possible.

Taking a New Approach and Reaping

the Rewards

Sometimes approaching a triedand-true technology from an unusual

angle can result in undreamed-of

improvements to the technology — and

benefit the innovative researcher

besides. That’s exactly what happened as

a result of research performed by Reid

Cooper, of the University of Wisconsin,

Madison, and a former graduate student,

Glen Cook, now of Corning, Inc. Cooper

and Cook were recently awarded a

patent for work done partly under the

auspices of a NASA grant. Their invention is a binary alloy liquid metal bath

that can be used for the float processing

of high–melting temperature glasses.

While a freshman working on a NASAfunded grant, Andrew Neice, center,

received the BF Goodrich Collegiate

Inventor of the Year award. Neice is

pictured here with James Hillier, left,

who served on the selection committee,

and William Krantz, co-investigator for

the NASA project.

Samples of molten materials are studied

without the contaminating effects of a

container in the Electrostatic Levitator

Facility at Marshall Space Flight Center.
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Float processing is the term

used to describe the technique by which

almost all glass used in architectural and

automotive applications is produced. In

float processing, molten silicate glass is

poured out onto a large pool of molten

tin. The two melts are kept separate as a

result of gravity — the tin is much more

dense than the glass — and the effects of

gravity and interfacial energies result in

extremely flat glass. But this technology

is nearly a half-century old, and there is

room for improvement, as Cooper and

Cook found out.

The researchers were primarily

working on using microgravity to produce very fine-grained ceramics with

extremely uniform grain size and structure through the solidification of an

inviscid oxide liquid. However, they

began their work with a silicate model

melt, with the goal of applying the

knowledge obtained from the model to

the oxide ceramic materials they were

ultimately pursuing. An additional benefit to working with the silicate is that the

material could illustrate thermodynamic

and kinetic processes that were at work

in the early stages of the formation of

the Sun and the Solar System —

a genuine instance of microgravity

processing! 

In the process of performing

reduction experiments on iron oxide–

bearing, multicomponent silicate melts,

where the equilibrium between the metal

and ceramic components is a primary

concern, Cooper and Cook surmised that

they could articulate a new float processing technique, one in which the float

bath used to process the silicate glass is

a heavily alloyed metal, rather than the

high-purity tin bath typically used by the

industry, for better results. One advantage to the alloyed bath is that the

process can be performed effectively at

much higher temperatures than is

currently possible; another is that, with

appropriate alloying of the float bath, the

glass can be doped with other elements,

which may infuse the glass with new

electrical or electro-optical properties.

Such glasses could be used for the

manufacture of flat-panel displays for

computer and video markets.

Cooper’s present NASA-funded

project, Dynamic Reduction and the

Creation of Fine-Grained Ceramics

From Inviscid Oxide/Silicate Melts, is

designed to chemically produce a

fine-grained (nanometer-scale), broadly

dispersed, metal second phase within

low-viscosity ionic melts. The dynamic

reduction requires containerless processing to control surface chemistry of

the melts and microgravity to avoid

segregation of the metal and oxide phases.

The structures produced within the

suspended silicate droplets in the

laboratory are similar to those found in

the silicate components of primitive

chondritic meteorites.

“Lasing” a New Trail

The Crystal Growth of ZnSe (zinc

selenide) experiment, headed by PI

Ching-Hua Su, of MSFC, has led to an

offshoot of the original project that may

prove very useful in medical applications. The discovery by a group at

Lawrence Livermore Laboratory that

zinc selenide crystals doped with

chromium after they are grown make a

good mid-infrared (IR) laser material

resulted in that group approaching Su

and his co-investigators, who include

Arnold Burger, of Fisk University, and

asking them to grow the chromiumdoped zinc selenide from scratch by

adding chromium to the crystal growth

preparation materials.

Since infrared light has less

energy than visible light, IR lasers could

be used for more subtle applications,

such as delicate medical surgery, than

typical lasers, which emit visible red

light. At the moment, however, there is

no good IR laser available. If a laser can

be developed using chromium-doped

zinc selenide that is small, portable, and

energy-controllable, the potential for the

instrument would be great.

The advantages to pre-doping

the zinc selenide with chromium are that

there is more control over the structure

of the material and that the structure is

more uniform, without undesirable defects.

The collaboration resulted in Burger presenting a talk titled “The Preparation

Conditions of Chromium-Doped ZnSe

While conducting experiments with a

molten material that had a metal and silicate component, researchers hit on an idea

for improving the standard method for producing flat sheets of glass used in buildings and automobiles.

Here the iron, or metal component, of the

molten experiment sample forms crystals

on the surface of the silicate component

(magnesium aluminosilicate). These

results led the science team to explore

solidifying glass on top of a heavily

alloyed metal.

New laser capabilities may be provided

by this crystal of zinc selenide doped

with chromium.
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and Their Effect on the Infrared

Luminescence Properties” at the 12th

American Conference on Crystal Growth

and Epitaxy, held August 13–18, 2000,

in Vail, Colorado.

Untangling Undiscovered

Complexities in Liquid 

Phase Sintering

The manufacture of small,

high-precision products, such as precision gears, for example, can pose a number of difficult challenges. The size of

the products, the detailed structure, and

the required hardness of the items can

make simply machining the item impractical. When that is the case, a process

called liquid phase sintering is often

used to produce the desired material.

In liquid phase sintering, particles of different materials are combined,

compacted, heated to high temperatures,

and then solidified. The particles generally have two components to them: one

component has a very high melting

point, like tungsten carbide, and one has

a lower melting point. As the material is

heated, the particles with the lower melting point turn liquid and seep around the

still-solid grains of the other material,

acting as a sort of glue to hold the whole

thing together. Or at least, that’s what

was surmised to happen during the sintering process, until PI Randall German,

of Pennsylvania State University, began 

delving into the physical mysteries of 

this technique.

German heads the experiment

Gravitational Effects on Distortion in

Sintering. Initially, German was examining the kinetics of liquid phase sintering

in order to understand problems that

sometimes occurred while using the

technique, such as “slumping,” a result

of gravity causing heavy matter to sink

to the bottom of the agglomerated material and distort the shape of the finished

product. German used microgravity to

suppress gravitational effects that can

obscure the physics of sintering, thereby

helping to reveal the processes at work

in the technique. However, on a closer

look, it was discovered that the whole

sintering process was much more

Items too small and precise for machining are produced by sintering. Microgravity research is

contributing to a better understanding of this process on the ground and may lead to improved

manufacturing of sintered products.

Results from a microgravity experiment

in sintering have led a researcher to discover that gas plays more of a role in the

process than was believed. Here large

pores or holes formed by gases are shown

unexpectedly coalescing in the experiment sample.
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complex than had been assumed. To the

surprise of researchers, when sintering

was performed in microgravity, a large

number of pores — some very peculiarly

shaped — manifested themselves in the

solidified material.

The presence of these pores

meant that sintering was not just the fairly simple, two-phase (liquid and solid)

technique it had been thought; instead,

the pores meant that there was also gas

present in the material. And that gas had

its own effects that were as yet unaccounted for. German is still exploring

the physics involved in liquid phase sintering and rewriting the theory behind

the process, which has multiple stages.

His work will be applied to refining sintering techniques used by the multimillion-dollar powder metallurgy industry. German has published many papers

based on his research, including articles

in such notable journals as Metallurgical

and Materials Transactions, Acta

Materialia, and the International

Journal of Powder Metallurgy.

A BUNDLE of Science

“Bigger isn’t always better” is

an adage that scientists and engineers at

Marshall Space Flight Center have found

to be true when it comes to furnaces

used to melt, solidify, and quench materials. The MSFC team has developed an

unusually small furnace for conducting

spaceflight research. The furnace can be

flown singly, if research space on a carrier is limited, or can be bundled in

packs of two to eight furnaces, or more,

if more space is available. For example,

four furnaces can be accommodated in

an EXpedite PRocessing of Experiments

to Space Station (EXPRESS) rack, a

type of rack that is currently being used

on the ISS, and an eight-pack can be

used in a double rack on a space shuttle

SPACEHAB research mission. Volume

flexibility, however, is just one advantage the furnace offers. 

Called the Bridgman

Unidirectional Dendrites in Liquids

Experiment, or BUNDLE, the small furnace — only 3.5 inches in diameter —

and ancillary equipment melt sample

materials, directionally solidify them by

moving the samples along a temperature

gradient, and quench them with a helium

gas. The furnace can reach temperatures

of 1,200  ̊C and requires only 250 watts

at 1,000  ̊C. The furnace accommodates

samples up to 10 millimeters in diameter, which means that four furnaces can

be packaged side-by-side in order to

process four samples simultaneously.

When eight furnaces are bundled

together, as many as 80 samples can be

processed per 16-day research mission,

which is an increased throughput capability over previous spaceflight furnaces.

A complete BUNDLE facility includes

one or more furnaces, a translation system, a quench system, water cooling,

vacuum control, crucibles, an experiment apparatus container, and avionics

for system control and data collection.

The MSFC team has worked to

reduce the cost of the BUNDLE facility

by using commercial off-the-shelf parts

for its avionics systems and by investigating novel uses of existing technologies for the containers, or crucibles, that

hold the samples during processing. This

technology has enabled a crucible to

withstand the extreme temperature

differences in the furnace, in addition to

containing a molten sample, thereby providing a safe system that is relatively

inexpensive. Low mass, low power consumption, high temperature capability,

low cost, and unprecedented flexibility

will make the BUNDLE furnace an

excellent candidate for many material

science investigators. The furnace prototype unit is currently being used and further developed for the research projects

of two investigators. 

Both experiments are concerned

with studying the microstructural

development of solidifying metal alloys.

Depending on a number of factors, like

the temperature of the sample and the

speed at which it is cooled, a molten

metal alloy will solidify with different

microstructures, such as a flat, or planar,

structure; a cellular, or finger-like,

structure; or a dendritic, or branching,

structure. The type of structure dictates

the properties of the resulting alloy, so

scientists are very concerned with

knowing the conditions under which

these structures occur and how they

make the transition from one structure

to another.

Theories predicting how conditions during solidification will affect

microstructure generally assume no flow

in the melt. In practice on Earth,

however, the picture is much more complicated because gravity usually promotes fluid flow in the liquid due to the

development of unstable density gradients. This in turn causes segregation

and poor material properties. In microgravity, flow due to gravity, or

buoyancy-induced convection, is greatly

reduced, providing researchers with an

opportunity to test theories that predict

structure. Refinement of such theories

could lead to improved processing techniques for alloys that are commonly cast

and used on Earth in products such as

turbine blades.

Rohit Trivedi, of Iowa State

University, and David Poirier, of the

University of Arizona, are the two

NASA investigators for whom the

BUNDLE furnace was originally

designed. They will be the first

researchers to use the furnace when the

flight version is ready and manifested on

a spaceflight mission. Trivedi is interested in accurately defining the conditions

for a cellular structure in aluminum-copper alloys, which are commonly used in

industry. Poirier is working to understand the relationship between processing parameters and the morphology of

dendritic microstructures in lead-tin

alloys, materials that are easy to work

with and have been used to model solidification processes in the past. Both

researchers have had success processing

samples of their research alloys in the

ground unit of the BUNDLE furnace at

MSFC and will use these results to

further refine their spaceflight goals and

for future comparison to their future

spaceflight results.

A four-pack BUNDLE facility

will be online for the processing of

multiple samples in fall 2001.
2000 50 ANNUAL REPORT

ariations in the quality of a microgravity environment can have an adverse effect on experiment

results. Sometimes the very tools that enable an experiment to be conducted in microgravity can be responsible

for these variations. Experiment hardware, crewmembers,

and even the flight vehicle itself can cause

accelerations (commonly known as vibrations) that affect

microgravity levels and disturb sensitive experiments.

Because accelerations can cause convection, sedimentation, and mixing in microgravity science experiments —

effects that researchers experimenting in microgravity generally

wish to avoid — information

about accelerations is critical to

the interpretation of science experiment results. Acceleration measurement is the process by which

data that describe the quality of a

microgravity environment are

acquired, processed, and analyzed.

The data are then passed on to

microgravity principal investigators (PIs) to aid them in analyzing

the results of their own

investigations. 

Experiments are usually conducted in microgravity to avoid

the by-products of gravity, such as

buoyancy-driven convection and

sedimentation; however, accelerations can strongly influence fluid

motion and the motion of particles

or bubbles in fluids. For example,

in materials science experiments,

heavier elements such as mercury

tend to settle out of solution when

subjected to steady accelerations.

Such settling can also damage protein crystals grown in

biotechnology experiments. Convection due to lowfrequency accelerations tends to cause hot gases in

combustion experiments to move. Fluid movement due

to accelerations may mask fluid characteristics, such as

surface tension forces, that the experimenter wishes to

observe. Mechanical vibrations over a wide range of

frequencies may cause drastic temperature changes in

low-temperature physics experiments, where the samples

are at temperatures close to absolute zero.

OVERVIEW

Helping researchers understand the microgravity environment and the impact of

accelerations on microgravity science experiments is the goal of the acceleration

measurement program.

V

ACCELERATION MEASUREMENT

8
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Program Summary

Accurate measurement of the microgravity conditions

during a spaceflight is crucial. PIs use acceleration data to

determine the influence of accelerations on their experiments

in order to gain a more accurate picture of the phenomena

under observation. The primary objective of the acceleration

measurement program is to characterize the reduced-gravity

environment of the various experiment carriers, such as the

space shuttle; Russia’s former space station, Mir; sounding

rockets; parabolic flight aircraft; drop towers; and the

International Space Station (ISS). 

Devices used to

measure the quality of a

microgravity environment

onboard the various experiment carriers are known as

accelerometers. Several different accelerometer units

have been developed to meet

the requirements of a wide

range of experiments and,

initially, to fly aboard different experiment carriers.

Although developed separately, the systems all complement each other in their

measurements. The Orbital

Acceleration Research

Experiment (OARE) and its

second-generation unit, the

Microgravity Acceleration

Measurement System (MAMS), measure the microgravity

environment for low-frequency accelerations. The Space

Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS) measures higherfrequency accelerations (up to 300 hertz). Second-generation

SAMS units, (originally called SAMS-II, but now known simply as SAMS units) were developed to improve upon the original SAMS technology, making it more compact and more easily adaptable to a variety of experiment needs; to that end,

these second-generation units will support experiments and

facilities on the ISS. SAMS for Free-Flyers (SAMS-FF) was

developed to measure the microgravity environment aboard

sounding rockets. In fiscal year (FY) 2000, the management of

all of the acceleration measurement devices was consolidated

into one project. 

With an emphasis on providing critical support to PIs

and other Microgravity Research Program (MRP) participants,

such as vibration isolation programs, the Principal Investigator

Microgravity Services (PIMS) project processes, interprets, and

analyzes accelerometer data. The information collected and produced by the acceleration measurement program is made available through the PIMS project in mission summary reports,

data files on CD-ROM and on Internet file servers, and specialized analysis reports for PIs, scientists, and the ISS program. 

Helping researchers better understand the microgravity environment that their experiments will be exposed to and

teaching them how to quantify and analyze the impact of such

an environment on their experiments is the goal of the acceleration measurement program’s Microgravity Environment

Interpretation Tutorial. For the third consecutive year, the

acceleration measurement program offered its tutorial to PIs

and project scientists in the MRP during a three-day session in

Cleveland, Ohio, December 7–9, 1999. The tutorial covered

topics in accelerometer instrumentation, data collection and

analysis techniques, the quality of the microgravity environment on NASA’s various carriers, and the implications of those

environments on microgravity

experiments. A 500-page reference book provided participants with a guide to maximizing the success of their microgravity research.

In addition to the

tutorial, the acceleration

measurement program also

held its 19th International

Microgravity Measurements

Group meeting July 11–13,

2000, in Cleveland. Talks about

the ISS, the effects of microgravity accelerations on scientific experiments, the various

acceleration measurement systems, and analysis of acceleration environment data were

presented to U.S. and international representatives from each of the microgravity science

disciplines and to other ISS program participants. Proceedings

from the meeting were made available on CD-ROM.

Flight Support 

SAMS-FF

SAMS-FF is a compact system consisting of a small

triaxial sensor head connected to a portable computer. The

flexible modular design and the integration of commercial, offthe-shelf parts have dramatically reduced the cost and size of

the unit and have increased the performance of the system.

The hardware can be easily adapted to the requirements of an

individual experiment. Presently, the system is manifested for

flights on the KC-135 parabolic aircraft, on sounding rockets,

on the space shuttle, and on the ISS. The system is also

capable of performing ground characterizations of a wide

range of environments.

In FY 2000, the SAMS-FF team developed the

Parabolic Aircraft Rating System for use by researchers and

flight crew on the KC-135. The system uses the SAMS-FF

sensor head and control computer. Custom-designed software

A sample color spectrogram of acceleration data obtained during a shuttle docking with the space station.
2000 52 ANNUAL REPORT

ACCELERATION MEASUREMENT

8

produces a real-time display of the relative g-level of

each low-gravity trajectory. The raw data is displayed on a

laptop computer and compared to a database to rate each

parabola on a scale of 1 to 10. After each parabola, the rating

is immediately made available to investigators as an indication

of the duration and level of low gravity. The SAMS-FF team

will be working with Johnson Space Center to make the system a permanent part of the KC-135.

SAMS-FF also supported two experiments conducted

on sounding rockets. SAMS-FF measured the microgravity

environment during the low-gravity portion of the flight of the

Pool Boiling Experiment on a Terrior-Orion sounding rocket in

December 1999. SAMS-FF provided data on vibrations and

vehicle dynamics using the fiber-optic gyroscope roll-rate sensor system and was instrumental in testing the sounding rocket due to the sensors’ ability to provide high

resolution and low noise. The SAMS-FF team also

delivered an acceleration measurement system for the

Spread Across Liquids-6 experiment, which is scheduled to fly on a sounding rocket in February 2001.

During development of the hardware for the sounding rocket flight, SAMS-FF also supported the experiment in a free-floating rig, which was flown on the

KC-135 aircraft.

Space shuttle mission STS-107, which is

scheduled for launch in late 2001, will include a

SAMS-FF system to support the Combustion Module-2

(CM-2) and the Mechanics of Granular Materials

experiments. The unit will feature three sensor heads

and a fiber-optic gyroscope roll-rate sensor system. In

FY 2000, SAMS-FF was modified to allow data to be

downlinked and viewed by the CM-2 team during the

mission. An OARE system, which is designed to

measure very low–frequency accelerations, will also be

flown in support of the STS-107 flight. 

SAMS and MAMS

The acceleration measurement program prepared SAMS and MAMS units to support ISS payloads

beginning in the spring of 2001, when access to microgravity conditions for science experiments is expected

to be available. SAMS for the ISS is a redesign of the

original SAMS unit (built for the space shuttle),

featuring an enhanced design that utilizes ISS capabilities and optimizes the size of the unit and the use of

off-the-shelf, readily available components. MAMS,

which was designed to verify that the ISS produces a

microgravity environment in accordance with ISS program requirements, comprises independent highfrequency and quasisteady (low-frequency) sensor subsystems. 

Preparations for launch of the SAMS unit

aboard ISS assembly flight 6A included building

training and flight versions of the Interim Control Unit and

sensor head rack drawers, completion of verification testing,

and training of the SAMS operation team. SAMS flight equipment was also delivered to Kennedy Space Center (KSC),

where it was successfully tested. The PIMS team verified that

acceleration data flowed from the SAMS unit as planned.

Subsystems necessary for the integration of science experiments with acceleration measurement hardware were provided

to investigators whose research will be part of the flight 6A

payload.

In FY 2000, MAMS was delivered to KSC, where

testing was completed in preparation for its launch, along with

the SAMS unit, on assembly flight 6A. In September 2000,

MAMS participated in the U.S. laboratory module’s

MAMS installation into an Expedite Processing of Experiments to Space Station

rack for launch to the International Space Station.
2000 ANNUAL REPORT

ACCELERATION MEASUREMENT

53

8

(Destiny’s) Integrated Compatibility Test and was one of the

first systems to send data through the laboratory during the

test. MAMS testing was completed in December 2000, and the

unit was turned over for integration into the Multi-Purpose

Logistics Module built by the Italian space agency. 

PIMS also continued its preparations for measuring

accelerations on the ISS. Under development in FY 2000 were

specialized software tools to allow for both real-time

and offline analysis of acceleration data received from SAMS

and MAMS. The software enables the generation of

real-time acceleration data plots that will be distributed to the

microgravity science community via the Internet. The software

also generates SAMS and MAMS acceleration data archives.

Offline processing tools will enable the creation of data plots

and acceleration data files for time periods specified by

the researcher.

Highlights 

New Insights on the Growth of

Bacteria in Space 

Accelerations that change the

quality of the microgravity environment

may be having an effect on how bacteria

grow and on the effectiveness of antibiotics in space. Emily Nelson, of the

Computational Microgravity Laboratory

at Glenn Research Center (GRC);

Margaret Juergensmeyer, of the

University of Montana; and Elizabeth

Juergensmeyer, of Judson College, presented new information about the

response of bacteria to the microgravity

environment at the 19th International

Microgravity Measurements Group

Meeting. The notions that bacteria in

space show a higher rate of proliferation

and become more resistant to antibiotics

than bacteria on Earth are widely accepted. However, a careful and comprehensive reading of literature published on

the subject reveals that bacterial proliferation and antibiotic resistance may

increase, decrease, or remain the same in

space as on Earth. The response of the

bacteria is a function of a multitude of

environmental factors, including temperature, the presence of nutrients, the duration of the experiment, and the type of

microbe examined. The researchers

expect that residual acceleration is also a

factor in some experiments. Although

this theory has never been directly tested, it suggests new avenues for research.

A Unique Laboratory Helps Ensure

Experiment Success 

The driver of a well-engineered

car knows that even the most finely

tuned devices can produce subtle vibrations during use that can spoil a perfect

ride. But what if your car is a space station and the passenger is a science

experiment that requires an environment

as free from vibrations as possible in

order to return useful results? Helping

researchers and engineers assess the

vibrations produced by mechanized

experiment components is the job of the

new Microgravity Emissions Laboratory

(MEL), developed by GRC. 

The MEL is a one-of-a-kind

laboratory that simulates and verifies

acceleration emissions generated by ISS

payloads and their components, including disk drives, pumps, motors, solenoids, fans, and cameras. If too large,

these emissions could adversely affect

science performed on the ISS by disrupting the microgravity environment. The

MEL became fully operational in

November 1999, and since then, approximately two tests per month have been

conducted in the laboratory. In FY 2000,

the MEL lent its support to the Fluids

and Combustion Facility for the ISS and

to other project offices at GRC.

The Microgravity Emissions Laboratory (MEL) aids researchers in assessing

the vibrations produced by mechanized equipment. Pictured here is the MEL

accelerometer platform.
2000 54 ANNUAL REPORT

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

9

he International Space Station (ISS) provides

researchers with a permanent orbiting laboratory in space in

which to conduct experiments where one of the fundamental

forces of nature — gravity — is greatly reduced. Conducting

research in this facility will enable world-class scientists from

a variety of discreet fields, as well as across a wide range of

multidisciplinary pursuits, to obtain research results that are

impossible to reproduce in any other venue. The benefits of a

permanent human presence in space aboard the space station

are expected to be infinite in scope, enhancing our understanding

of fundamental scientific processes and bringing exciting, new

applications to benefit humans both on Earth and in their

exploration of space. 

The microgravity program will contribute enormously

to these discoveries through the development of science experiments that can benefit from the unique environment that the

ISS provides and through the application of knowledge gained

about the microgravity environment to exploration initiatives

planned by NASA. To that end, the Microgravity Research

Program has designed five multiuser experiment facilities

specifically for long-duration scientific research aboard the

ISS. To obtain an optimal balance between science capabilities, costs, and risks, facility requirements definitions have

been aligned with evolving space station capabilities. These

facilities are: the Biotechnology Facility

(BTF), the Fluids and Combustion Facility

(FCF), the Low-Temperature Microgravity

Physics Facility (LTMPF), the Materials

Science Research Facility (MSRF), and the

Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG). Their

descriptions appear below.

Space Station Facilities for

Microgravity Research

BTF

The BTF, which is in the planning stages at

Johnson Space Center, is designed to meet the

requirements of the science community for

conducting low-gravity, long-duration biotechnology experiments. The facility is intended to

serve the community of biotechnologists from

academic, governmental, and industrial venues

in the pursuit of basic and applied research.

Changing science priorities and advances in

technology are easily accommodated by the

BTF’s modular design, allowing experiments

in cell culture, tissue engineering, and fundamental biotechnology to be supported by

this facility.

The BTF will be operated continuously on

the ISS. It is a single-rack facility with several separate experiment modules that can be integrated and exchanged with each

space shuttle flight to the ISS. The facility provides each

experiment module with power, gases, thermal cooling, computational capability for payload operation and data archiving,

and video signal handling capabilities. Capable of processing

3,000 to 5,000 specimens a year, the BTF will provide sufficient experimental data to meet demands for objective analysis

and publication of results in relevant journals. Careful design

of experiments can result in the publication of two to five

primary articles per year. Validation of BTF concepts and

operations were successfully completed onboard Mir using the

Biotechnology System (BTS). The BTS served as an important

risk-mitigation effort for the BTF, demonstrating the technology and systems that will support biotechnology investigations

for long-duration operations.

Biotechnology research during the early phases of the

ISS will be conducted using a modular accommodations rack

system know as the Expedite Processing of Experiments to

Space Station (EXPRESS) rack. The EXPRESS rack requires

individual payloads to develop additional capabilities and

involves science implementation trade-offs. The EXPRESS

rack will hold currently existing equipment previously flown

on the space shuttle and on Mir. It will also accommodate the

Conducting research aboard the ISS will enable world-class scientists from a variety of

discreet fields, as well as across a wide range of multidisciplinary pursuits, to obtain

research results that are impossible to reproduce in any other venue.

T
2000 ANNUAL REPORT

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

55

9

first operation of equipment built specifically to meet space

station requirements. The BTF is targeted to be operational

in 2005. 

FCF

The FCF is a modular, multiuser facility that will be

located in the U.S. Laboratory Module of the ISS to accommodate sustained, systematic microgravity experimentation in

both the fluid physics and combustion science disciplines. The

FCF flight segment consists of three powered racks called the

Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR), the Fluids Integrated Rack

(FIR), and the Shared Accommodations Rack (SAR). These

FCF racks will be incrementally deployed to the ISS, and then

fully integrated into the FCF system upon the arrival of the

SAR. The three racks will operate together with payload

experiment equipment, ground-based operations facilities, and

the FCF ground segment to perform fluid physics and combustion science experiments. The facility will also support experiments from other science disciplines and commercial and

international investigations.

The FCF is being developed at Glenn Research

Center (GRC) in Cleveland, Ohio. A contract called the

Microgravity Research Development and Operations Contract

was initiated by GRC in FY 2000 for primary development of

the FCF by Logicon Northrup Grumman, who will also develop, integrate, and support the operation of the initial FCF combustion science and fluid physics payloads, including the

Multiuser Droplet Combustion Apparatus and the Light

Microscopy Module. Preparations for a system-level preliminary design review of the FCF were made in FY 2000, including completion of performance and environmental testing of

key FCF common subsystem hardware. The NASA

Continuous Improvement Award was conferred on the FCF

project team for continuous improvements to the design of the

FCF and excellence in the team’s efforts to develop a premier

facility for the ISS.

LTMPF

The LTMPF project completed a successful year in

which the Mission 1 instrument preliminary design review and

Mission 2 science concept review were successfully held and

two of the three Mission 2 instruments were granted authority

to proceed. The facility peer design review (PDR) was held in

July 2000 to support the system PDR in December. Because

the proposed facility budget was above the guidelines, the

project was given direction to evaluate alternative methods of

implementation and report back with a new plan early in calendar year 2001. 

Trade studies continued in 2000 and have resulted in

the selection of a facility that supports two instruments, one in

each end of the facility in separate vacuum spaces. The

configuration of the LTMPF remains a single dewar with two

instruments per mission. The design work this year resulted in

the design and fabrication of a protoflight truss probe that has

been successfully qualified to meet protoflight launch loads

and thermal isolation requirements for the instruments. Flightlike components were also qualified for instruments that will

be used by three of the selected principal investigators who

will conduct their experiments in the LTMPF. A single-board

computer and Ethernet controllers were radiation tested to levels derived from ISS specifications. LTMPF software was

coded and tested with an ISS-provided portable tester.

Prototype measurement and control electronics for Germanium

Resistance Thermometers were tested and shown to meet

LTMPF requirements. A leading circuit design for a

Superconducting Quantum Interference Device was also tested

with flight-like high-resolution thermometers provided by

the investigators.

Manifest changes have moved the LTMPF proposed

launch from June 2004 to April 2005. 

MSRF

The MSRF is being developed to provide a flexible,

permanent platform in the U.S. Laboratory for conducting

experiments in materials science. The modularity of the MSRF

will satisfy the requirements of the majority of materials science investigations and will enable the development of experiment modules specifically suited for individual classes of

materials, thereby avoiding the development and deployment

of redundant supporting systems. The MSRF will also incorporate technology improvements through phased rack and

hardware deployment and will employ common designs in the

follow-on racks and experiment modules in order to optimize

flexibility and accommodation of the various multidiscipline

and materials science themes, along with new initiatives in

development in the NASA microgravity program. The MSRF

is being developed to promote international cooperation and

provide the most cost-effective and productive near-term and

long-range approaches to performing science investigations in

the microgravity environment on the ISS.

The modular facility comprises autonomous Materials

Science Research Racks (MSRRs). The initial MSRF concept

consists of three MSRRs (MSRR-1, MSRR-2, and MSRR-3),

which will be developed for phased deployment beginning on

the third Utilization Flight (UF-3). Each MSRR will be

composed of either on-orbit replaceable experiment modules;

module inserts; investigation-unique apparatus; and/or

multiuser, generic processing apparatus. The ISS Active Rack

Isolation System will be employed in the MSRRs to reduce the

detrimental effects of vibrations on the station. The MSRRs

will support a wide range of materials science themes,

allowing the MSRF to support investigations in basic and

applied research in the fields of solidification of metals and

alloys, thermophysical properties, polymers, crystal growth of

semiconductor materials, and ceramics and glasses, as well as

new multidiscipline initiatives planned by NASA.
2000 56 ANNUAL REPORT

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

9

The first experiment module planned for MSRR-1 is

currently being developed by NASA and European Space

Agency (ESA). This module, called the Materials Science

Laboratory (MSL), will incorporate several processing

devices, or module inserts. This first materials science payload

will be integrated into an International Standard Payload Rack,

which will initially be shared with a NASA Commercial

Payload, the Space Experiment Facility (SEF) experiment

module. Following completion of its on-orbit research activities, the SEF will be replaced with a follow-on materials

science experiment module.

NASA is currently developing the Quench Module

Insert (QMI) and the Diffusion Module Insert (DMI) for the

MSL. The QMI is a high-temperature Bridgman-type furnace

with an actively cooled cold zone. The QMI is being designed

to accommodate a rapid quenching capability. The DMI is a

Bridgman-type furnace insert designed to accommodate processing temperatures up to 1,600 °C. The requirements for this

insert include precise control and the ability to operate in a

mode with high isothermality. ESA is currently developing the

Low Gradient Furnace (LGF) and Solidification Quench

Furnace (SQF) module inserts. The LGF is a BridgmanStockbarger furnace and is primarily intended for crystal growth experiments, providing for directional solidification

processing with precise temperature and translational control.

The SQF is being optimized for metallurgical experiments

requiring large thermal gradients and rapid quenching of

samples. Both of the ESA module inserts can accommodate

processing temperatures up to 1,600 °C. Additional module

inserts can be developed and utilized over the lifetime

of the MSL.

MSRR-2 and MSRR-3 rack configurations will be

consistent with ongoing reference experiment studies and rack

architectural studies currently being conducted at Marshall

Space Flight Center. These racks will have optimum flexibility

for on-orbit maintenance and change-out of key components.

They will be designed to accommodate the cadre of current

materials science investigations and future NASA Research

Announcement selections through the use of a variety of onorbit, replaceable, investigation-unique experiment modules.

The racks will also be capable of accommodating experiment

modules developed by space station international partners in

addition to apparatus supporting multidisciplinary research.

MSRR-2 will support the first of the follow-on experiment

modules and will incorporate new technology and enable automated operations. Its anticipated launch readiness date is mid2005. MSRR-3’s anticipated launch readiness date is in late

2007. Several experiment modules to accommodate science

investigations on MSRR-2 and MSRR-3 are currently in

concept definition.

Experiments funded by the Microgravity Research Program will be conducted in five specialized facilities in the U.S. Laboratory Module of the space station. Shown here under construction, the U.S.

Laboratory module is 28 feet long and 14 feet in diameter. The lab consists of three cylindrical sections and two endcones with hatches to allow it to be mated to other space station components.
2000 ANNUAL REPORT

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9

In FY 2000, the MSRF participated in an ISS facility

replan review, a process for reassessing the MSRF program

and assuring that procedures are being implemented appropriately. The Program Management Council granted authority for

the first MSRR to proceed through its critical design review.

The QMI underwent its critical design review.

MSG

The MSG is a multidisciplinary facility for small, low-cost,

rapid-response scientific and technological investigations in the areas

of biotechnology, combustion

science, fluid physics, fundamental physics, and materials

science. It allows preliminary data

to be collected and analyzed prior

to any major investment in sophisticated scientific and technological

instrumentation. Additionally, its

enclosed working volume offers a

safe interface between investigations of potentially hazardous

materials and space station

crewmembers and the environment

of the space station. NASA’s

previous successes with gloveboxes

flown on the space shuttle and on

Mir provided valuable experience

in determining the requirements for

the MSG.

The MSG is being

developed through an international

agreement between NASA and

ESA. In exchange for developing

the MSG, the agreement provides

ESA with early utilization

opportunities in the facility without

any exchange of funds between the

two agencies. ESA’s prime

contractor for the MSG is Astrium. 

Schedule of Flights

Approximately 18 flight

opportunities have been planned to

date for the delivery of the U.S.

Laboratory and its components

(including the microgravity

facilities described above), the

utilization of the space station for

microgravity experiments, the

delivery of modules and racks

developed by NASA and its international partners, and the

delivery of the crew habitation module that will provide living

quarters for the ISS crew. A list of milestones, flights, and

dates significant to the microgravity program are listed below.

Descriptions of flight hardware to support microgravity

experiments are listed in Appendix B.

Table 9 — ISS Flights Significant to the Microgravity Program

Milestone Flight Launch Date*

U.S. Laboratory Delivery STS-98 February 2001

U.S. Laboratory Outfitting STS-102 March 2001

First two EXPRESS Racks,

Microgravity Capability STS-100 April 2001

Phase Two Complete STS-104 June 2001

U.S. Laboratory Outfitting, Two

Additional Express Racks STS-105 June 2001 

Utilization Flight STS-109 October 2001

Utilization Flight, Fifth EXPRESS Rack,

and MSG Rack STS-111 February 2002

First Utilization Logistics Flight STS-114 June 2002

Spacehab Flight, Continued U.S.

Laboratory Outfitting STS-119 January 2003

Spacehab Flight, Continued U.S.

Laboratory Outfitting STS-122 June 2003

Utilization Flight, External AMS Facility STS-123 October 2003

Japanese Experiment Module (JEM)

Laboratory Delivery STS-127 May 2004

Utilization Flight, Combustion Integrated

Rack (CIR), and First Materials Science

Research Rack (MSRR-1)

STS-130 September 2004

European Space Agency (ESA)

Laboratory Delivery STS-131 October 2004

Delivery of External Facility of the JEM STS-133 January 2005

Delivery of Fluids Integrated Rack (FIR),

Sixth and Seventh EXPRESS Racks, and

First External Pallet

STS-134 February 2005

Delivery of Fluids and Combustion 

Shared Accommodations Rack, Eighth and last

EXPRESS Rack and Third External Pallet

STS-136 June 2005

Delivery of Crew Habitation Module STS-138 September 2005

Biotechnology Facility, MSRR-2,

MSRR-3, and X-Ray Crystallography Facility Post 2005

* Launch dates subject to change
2000 58 ANNUAL REPORT

GROUND-BASED MICROGRAVITY RESEARCH SUPPORT FACILITIES

1 0

n fiscal year (FY) 2000, NASA continued to

maintain very productive ground facilities for

reduced-gravity research. These facilities included

KC-135 parabolic flight aircraft, a drop tower, and

the Zero Gravity Research Facility. The reducedgravity facilities at Glenn Research Center (GRC)

and Johnson Space Center (JSC) have supported

numerous investigations addressing a variety of

processes and phenomena in several research disciplines. Microgravity, a state of apparent

weightlessness, can be created in these facilities by

executing a freefall or semi-freefall condition where

the force of gravity on an object is offset by

its linear acceleration during a “fall” (a drop in a

tower or a parabolic maneuver by an aircraft). 

Even though ground-based facilities offer

relatively short experiment times of less than 25

seconds, this available test time has been found to

be sufficient to advance the scientific understanding

of many phenomena. Experiments scheduled to fly

on the space shuttle and the International Space

Station are frequently tested and validated in the

ground facilities prior to being conducted in space.

Experimental studies in a low-gravity environment

can enable new discoveries and advance the

fundamental understanding of science. Many tests

performed in NASA’s ground-based microgravity

facilities, particularly in the disciplines of combustion science and fluid physics, have resulted in

exciting findings that are documented in a large

body of literature.

JSC’s KC-135 is NASA’s primary aircraft

for ground-based reduced-gravity research. The KC135 can accommodate several experiments during a

single flight. Low-gravity conditions can be

obtained for approximately 18–25 seconds as the

aircraft traces a parabolic trajectory. The trajectory 

begins with a shallow dive to increase air speed, followed by a rapid climb at up to a 45- to 50-degree

angle. The low-gravity period begins with the

pushover at the top of the climb and continues until

the pullout is initiated when the aircraft reaches a

40-degree downward angle. During the parabola, an

altitude change of approximately 6,000 feet is experienced. More than 50 parabolas can be performed

in a single flight. In FY 2000, 38 experiments were

performed during 1,828 trajectories during 94

flight hours.

Each parabolic maneuver performed by the KC-135 aircraft gives researchers

18–25 seconds of low-gravity conditions. Here, researchers carefully release

their experiment rig in the freefall environment.

I
2000 ANNUAL REPORT

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59

1 0

The GRC 2.2-Second Drop Tower offers a

shorter test time than the KC-135, but its simple

mode of operation and a throughput capacity of several tests per day make it an attractive and highly

utilized test facility, particularly for performing

evaluation and feasibility tests. The drop tower is

able to provide gravitational levels that range from 1

percent of Earth’s gravitational acceleration to 0.01

percent. More than 20,000 tests have been performed in the drop tower to date. In FY 2000, the

number of drop tests conducted averaged more than

80 per month. 

Reduced-gravity conditions in the drop

tower are created by dropping an experiment in an

enclosure known as a drag shield to isolate the test

hardware from aerodynamic drag during a 24-meter

freefall in an open environment. Thirty-three experiments were supported during the 1,023 drops performed in FY 2000. As in the past, several of these

experiments were aiding the development of

research that will be conducted in space. The steady

utilization of the drop tower is expected to continue,

as many new experiments are in the design and fabrication phases of development for the coming years.

The Zero Gravity Research Facility at GRC,

a registered U.S. national landmark, provides a quiescent

low-gravity environment for a test duration of 5.18

seconds as experiments are dropped in a vacuum

chamber that goes 132 meters underground. 

Aerodynamic drag on the freely falling

experiment is nearly eliminated by dropping in a

vacuum. This procedure restricts drop tests to two

per day, resulting in fewer projects supported in this

facility than in the 2.2-Second Drop Tower.

However, the relatively long test time and excellent

low-gravity conditions more than compensate for

the lower test throughput rate. In FY 2000, six

major projects were supported as 106 test drops

were executed.

Table 10 — Use of Ground-Based Low-Gravity Facilities in FY 2000

KC-135 2.2-Second

Drop Tower

Zero Gravity

Research Facility

Number of investigations supported 38 33 6

Number of drops or trajectories 1,828 1,023 106

Number of flight hours 94 N/A N/A

These photos show an experiment being

decelerated after falling 132 meters during 5.18 seconds of low gravity.
2000 60 ANNUAL REPORT

etting the word out about what microgravity

researchers do and why they do it is crucial to

maintaining the strength and relevance

of the science program. The

Microgravity Research Program’s

(MRP’s) outreach and education efforts target a broad

audience. That audience

includes researchers who

have not yet considered the

benefits of conducting

experiments in microgravity,

scientists and engineers in

industry, students of all grade

levels, instructors and administrators in a variety of educational

settings, and the lay public.

Methods for communicating the substance of the

program are as varied as the audience served.

Microgravity researchers and support personnel are involved in a number of outreach

activities that include visiting classrooms; staffing exhibits at

national technical, educational

and public outreach conferences;

offering tours and open houses at

microgravity science facilities;

and sponsoring student

researchers at NASA centers. In

addition, print and World Wide

Web (WWW) publications highlighting specific research projects

allow the MRP to reach a 

worldwide audience.

OVERVIEW

Entranced youngsters watch a demonstration showing how undercooled metal alloys are more

resilient than conventional metal alloys. The

demonstration was part of an exhibit on the benefits of space research at AirVenture 2000 in

Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

More than 400 employees of Marshall Space Flight

Center have participated in Project LASER

(Learning About Science, Engineering, and

Research), which provides mentors, education

tours, classroom presentations, and curriculum

development to teachers and students in and around

Huntsville, Alabama.

G

OUTREACH AND EDUCATION

1 1
2000 ANNUAL REPORT

OUTREACH AND EDUCATION

61

1 1

Program Summary

In fiscal year (FY) 2000, more than 50,000 elementary and secondary school teachers and administrators attended

annual national and regional meetings of the National Science

Teachers Association, the National Council of Teachers of

Mathematics, the International Technology Education

Association, and the National Association of Biology

Education, all of which featured booths staffed by MRP personnel. These major national educator conferences give NASA

the opportunity to demonstrate new ways to teach students

about the importance of microgravity research. Microgravity

science and mathematics posters, teacher’s guides, mathematics briefs, microgravity demonstrator manuals, microgravity

technology guides, microgravity mission and science lithographs, and WWW microgravity resources sheets were

distributed to teachers at these conferences.

Several new microgravity education products were

developed and made available to educators in FY 2000. Two

NASA educational guides were developed — Microgravity:

Earth and Space and NASA’s Student Glovebox: An

Inquiry-Based Educator’s Guide. Efforts were increased in FY

2000 to make educators aware of all the microgravity research

education products that are

available online through

MRP WWW pages, NASA

Spacelink, and the NASA

CORE (Central Operation

of Resources for Educators)

education distribution

system.

The MRP’s quarterly newsletter, Microgravity

News, continues to reach

thousands of K–12

teachers, curriculum supervisors, science writers,

university faculty, graduate

students, scientists, principal investigators, and technology developers. Microgravity

News features articles on experiment results, flight missions,

science and technology developments, research funding opportunities, meetings, collaborations, and profiles of microgravity

science researchers. The distribution for each issue is about

11,000 copies. A rise has been seen in the number of

individuals requesting to be added to the mailing list via

e-mail submission to the address microgravitynews@msfc.

nasa.gov. The newsletter is available on the WWW at

http://mgnews.msfc. nasa.gov.

The Microgravity Research Program Office’s

(MRPO’s) web page at http://microgravity.nasa.gov provides

news highlights, information about upcoming conferences,

microgravity-related research announcements, enhanced links

to microgravity research centers and projects, educational

links, and links to the microgravity image archive. The

Microgravity Research Results web site at http://mgnews/

msfc.nasa.gov/site/resindex.html features reviews of several

benchmark microgravity flight experiments. A list of important

microgravity WWW sites is presented on p.65.

The World Wide Web

continues to be an important

distribution method for the

MRP’s outreach and education products. Table 11 lists

several K–12 microgravity

education products and the

number of separate “downloads” for each of these

products in FY 2000. This

number is considered a

more accurate accounting

of actual product use than the

frequently used “hits,”

because it indicates those

users who downloaded the

printer description files

(PDFs) to their computers.

At the April 2000 conference of the National Council of Teachers of

Mathematics, held in Chicago, Illinois, Jimmy Grisham of Marshall

Space Flight Center demonstrates to a teacher the classroom-size

Microgravity Drop Tower Demonstrator.

Cover of Microgravity News

Winter 1999 issue.

Table 11 - Microgravity Outreach Education Products downloaded in FY 2000

Month Microgravity

Teacher’s Guide

The Mathematics

of Microgravity

Microgravity Video

Resource Guide

Microgravity

Demonstrator

Microgravity — Fall

Into Mathematics

10/99 24,344 345 45 153 273

11/99 1,976 288 50 148 241

12/99 6,821 227 32 100 215

1/00 5,728 322 58 109 276

2/00 11,284 352 65 196 335

3/00 10,857 324 34 165 281

4/00 4,492 383 46 121 280

5/00 10,396 334 70 160 284

6/00 1,355 269 61 131 230

7/00 5,527 324 25 135 278

8/00 3,302 276 63 122 435

9/00 11,443 219 43 138 531

Total 97,525 3,663 592 1,678 3,659
2000 62 ANNUAL REPORT

OUTREACH AND EDUCATION

1 1

Highlights

Students Get Their Hands on Science 

This year students had several

opportunities to get hands-on microgravity

science experience. Students from middle and high schools across the nation

helped with preparations for the

Enhanced Gaseous Nitrogen Dewar, the

first long-duration experiment conducted

onboard the International Space Station

(ISS). The experiment is designed to

allow many protein samples to crystallize in orbit with very few demands on

power or crew time. Proteins often form

well-ordered crystals in microgravity,

allowing scientists a better view of an

individual protein’s structure. Such

information may be used by pharmaceutical companies to design more effective

drugs and by scientists who are studying

the physics of crystallization.

Student participation in the program began with kits that guided teachers

and students through growing protein

crystals in their classrooms. This activity

was supported with 22 workshops for

training teachers in the use of the kits.

The workshops were sponsored by the

MRPO at Marshall Space Flight Center

(MSFC). Following the classroom

activity, students entered a competition

to be selected to attend another workshop, which included tours of structural

biology laboratories and companies

where they were introduced to the uses

of the information protein crystals can

yield. The students then spent a day

preparing and loading samples for the

space station experiment. 

The process of preparing

samples for the experiment is fairly simple.

Set amounts of protein and precipitant

(solution that draws the water from the

liquid protein sample) are flash-frozen in

a narrow piece of tubing and then placed

in the dewar, or Thermos-like container.

When the dewar reaches the station, the

samples thaw, allowing mixing and thus

crystallization to begin. 

Thirteen sample preparation

workshops were sponsored by the

MRPO. Students and teachers from

Alabama, California, Florida, and

Tennessee helped ready the biological

samples for flight. The students prepared

150 samples of 500 different proteins,

which were all loaded into a dewar that

was carried by the STS-106 space shuttle

flight to the ISS in September 2000. 

This year high school students

also had the opportunity to compete for

experiment time in a NASA drop tower.

Glenn Research Center (GRC) sponsored the competition, which was called

Dropping in a Microgravity Environment.

Students were invited to develop concepts for a microgravity experiment and

prepare and submit an experiment proposal for review and selection for conduct in Glenn’s drop tower. A team of

NASA scientists and engineers will

evaluate the proposals, and the top five

proposals will be selected. The five

teams will complete the design of their

experiment, fabricate the experimental

apparatus, and visit GRC to operate their

experiments in the 2.2-Second

Drop Tower.

Web Outreach

In FY 2000, students, teachers,

and the general public connected with

researchers in the microgravity program

in two new ways. Craig Kundrot, a biophysicist at MSFC, chatted online with

students from more than 20 schools

across the nation as part of MSFC’s

“Ask a Scientist” program. “Ask a

Scientist” and its sister program “Ask an

Astronaut,” linked MSFC and more than

two dozen middle and high school classrooms nationwide via live Internet voice

feeds for interviews with NASA astronauts, scientists, and engineers.

These high school students are screening crystals of various proteins that are part of the ground-based work that supports the Enhanced

Nitrogen Dewar experiment, conducted on the International Space Station.
2000 ANNUAL REPORT

OUTREACH AND EDUCATION

63

1 1

Students and other visitors to a

new web site called “Profiles of Women

in Microgravity” also gained insight into

the careers and accomplishments of successful researchers and engineers in the

microgravity program. The web page

features eight profiles in which female

scientists and engineers share their inspirations, paths to achievement, and advice

to young women. 

The women profiled have made

remarkable progress in fields long occupied mostly by men, but their successes

stand on their own. For instance,

research conducted by Sandra Olsen, of

Glenn Research Center, led NASA to reevaluate and revise the response procedures to fires on spacecraft, improving

safety aboard the space shuttles and the

International Space Station for both the

crew and equipment. Chiaki Mukai, of

NASDA, the national space agency of

Japan, is also featured on the site. Mukai

is a highly published and honored medical doctor who flew on two space shuttle missions as a payload specialist. 

The researchers’ areas of

expertise include biochemistry, biotechnology, combustion science, engineering,

fluid physics, fundamental physics,

materials science, and medical research. 

Teaching the Teachers

A new microgravity education

product is making a hit with teachers.

With an old copier paper box and NASA

Student Glovebox, an inquiry-based

technology educator’s guide, teachers

are introducing students to an important

tool for conducting science experiments

in space. The guide gives instructions

for assembling a glovebox out of a paper

box, provides information about glovebox parts and their functions, and contains an inquiry-based activity. At the

annual Science Educators Council of

Ohio conference in February 2000, a science facilitator for the Columbus, Ohio,

public schools participated in a session

on creating a glovebox using the educator’s guide. The facilitator then requested

50 copies of the guide from the National

Center for Microgravity Research on

Fluids and Combustion (NCMRFC), the

developer of the product, so

that the activity could be

incorporated in the science curriculum for

eighth-graders in the district.

NASA Student

Glovebox was one of three

NASA guides featured at

the annual Microgravity

Training Day held on

April 25, 2000, in

Cleveland, Ohio. This

year’s training included

workshops in the use of

the glovebox guide, the

Microgravity Teacher’s

Guide, and How High Is

It?, a new math education

guide related to the space

program that was also

developed by NCMRFC.

One hundred fifty directors from the Educator

Resource Center Network

and the Technology

Program at various NASA

centers participated. The

directors will train hundreds of educators in their

regions through summer

workshops. The training

day was part of a week-long

conference sponsored by both NASA

headquarters and Glenn Research

Center’s Office of Education. The location of the conference rotates among

NASA field centers. The three guides

may be downloaded from the World Wide

Web at http://spacelink.

nasa.gov/ Instructional.Materials/NASA.

Educational.Products/.index.html.

Teachers also learned about the

benefits of the microgravity environment

during NASA Educational Workshops

held in the summer of 2000 at GRC and

MSFC. The sessions, designed for

kindergarten through sixth-grade teachers, provided a three-hour introduction

to gravity, the effects of gravity, and

microgravity. The sessions were sponsored by NCMRFC and the MRPO.

At Experience 2000, a partnership project of NASA held at Johnson

Space Center, four research scientists

from the microgravity cellular biotechnology program gave a talk titled “Life

in Microgravity: View From the Units of

Life — Cells.” Space biology and the

use of NASA’s bioreactors in both

ground- and space-based research were

discussed with members of the Life

Sciences Educator Network and the Life

Sciences Museum Network. This event

provided an opportunity to translate

NASA science into classroom activities

and museum projects and programs.

Going Public

The microgravity program

strives to share with the public the goals,

progress, and results of microgravity

research. To this end, the program sponsors and supports numerous exhibits at

national events and at NASA center

open houses.

Thomas Turk, an engineer at Glenn Research Center, waits for

more visitors at a mockup of the Destiny laboratory module that

was exhibited at AirVenture 2000 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Visible behind Turk are three racks that will make up the Fluids

and Combustion Facility.
2000 64 ANNUAL REPORT

OUTREACH AND EDUCATION

1 1

Glenn Research Center’s Microgravity

Science Division organized and hosted

the Microgravity Science, Space Product

Development, and International Space

Station exhibit at AirVenture 2000 in

Oshkosh, Wisconsin. More than 700,000

attendees and more than 10,000 aircraft

participated in this 48th annual event.

Personnel from GRC and MSFC exhibited the ISS U.S. laboratory mockup with

the Fluids and Combustion Facility

racks; the ISS Microgravity Science

Glovebox; an ISS scale model; a microgravity materials science display; several

Space Product Development exhibits,

including two from the University of

Wisconsin; a large model of the space

shuttle; and a three-dimensional video

booth featuring the Fluids and

Combustion Facility. About 50 volunteers from GRC, MSFC, and the

Wisconsin Commercial Space Center

participated to make this activity a

huge success.

The 2000 Houston Livestock

Show and Rodeo, which features the

world’s largest and highest-paying

regular season rodeo, the world’s largest

livestock show, and a world-class horse

show and educational exhibits, also

included an exhibit sponsored by the

microgravity cellular biotechnology program as part of the Johnson Space

Center displays. Nearly two million visitors attended the event held February

18–March 5, 2000, where they had the

opportunity to view and learn about the

program’s space bioreactor, a device for

growing cells in microgravity. A video

featuring bioreactor experiments during

the space shuttle mission STS-70 and

posters explaining other program

hardware and cell science and tissue

engineering projects were also on

display. The Houston Livestock Show

and Rodeo is a charitable event,

committed to benefiting youth and

supporting education throughout Texas.

The demonstrations at the

booths for Fundamental Physics in

Space were again a popular venue with

the thousands of visitors to Jet

Propulsion Laboratory’s 2000 Open

House in Pasadena, California. Visitors

gathered to see the effects of reduced

gravity at the drop tower, and they were

shown the extraordinary sensitivity of

superconducting instruments. 

Demonstrators explained why

investigators in the microgravity

program can improve their measurement

results enormously by performing their

experiments in orbit. The research topics

studied by the investigators in the fundamental physics program were illustrated,

and models of the facilities used to

support the experiments on the ISS were

shown. More than 20 volunteers supported this outreach effort over the two

days of the open house. 

On May 20, 2000, MSFC held

a public open house with 18,000 visitors

in attendance. Displays of the effects of

freefall were presented to the visitors,

and the Microgravity Development

Laboratory was open for tours.

Richard DeLombard of Glenn Research Center hands to an AirVenture 2000

visitor the release line of a microgravity combustion experiment demonstrator, which shows the effects of microgravity on candle flames.
2000 ANNUAL REPORT

OUTREACH AND EDUCATION

65

1 1

Important Microgravity WWW

Sites 

NASA

http://www.nasa.gov/

NASA current events and links to NASA Strategic Enterprise

sites.

NASA Biological and Physical Research

http://spaceresearch.nasa.gov/

Goals and organization of this research enterprise, as well as

links to current research opportunities.

Microgravity Research Program Office

http://microgravity.nasa.gov/

Information about the microgravity research activities with

links to an image gallery and related science and technology

web sites.

Microgravity News

http://mgnews.msfc.nasa.gov/

Online issues of Microgravity News, a quarterly newsletter

about research in microgravity.

Microgravity Research Results

http://mgnews.msfc.nasa.gov/site/resindex.html

Site with links to the history and results of select flight experiments.

Microgravity Research Task Book and Bibliography

http://microgravity.nasa.gov/tb.html

Brief descriptions of all research projects currently funded by

the program.

Microgravity Meetings

http://zeta.grc.nasa.gov/ugml/ugmltext.htm

List of meetings, conferences, and symposia related to microgravity research topics.

Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)

http://www.msfc.nasa.gov

Information about MSFC, including ongoing research and

facilities at the center.

Glenn Research Center (GRC)

http://www.grc.nasa.gov

Information about GRC, including ongoing research and facilities at the center.

Microgravity Science Division (GRC)

http://microgravity.grc.nasa.gov

Descriptions of microgravity projects and facilities sponsored

by GRC.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/

Information about JPL, including ongoing research and facilities at the center.

Microgravity Fundamental Physics (JPL)

http://funphysics.jpl.nasa.gov

Contains background material, descriptions, and results for

fundamental physics experiments funded by the program.

Johnson Space Center (JSC)

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov

Information about JSC, including ongoing research and facilities at the center.

NASA Science News

http://science.nasa.gov

Breaking news stories about NASA science research.

National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and

Combustion

http://www.ncmr.org/home.html

Information about research and events sponsored by the center.

Microgravity Experiment Data and Information Archives

http://mgravity.itsc.uah.edu/microgravity_experiment_archive.

html

Provides information and search capabilities for NASA microgravity flight experiments.

Reduced-Gravity Program

http://jsc-aircraft-ops.jsc.nasa.gov/rgpindex.htm

Overview of the reduced-gravity program, which uses the KC135 aircraft.

Spacelink – Microgravity Educational Products

http://spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov/

NASA education information, materials, and services.

NASA Human Spaceflight

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/

A comprehensive source for information about NASA’s spaceflight programs.

Shuttle Flights

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/

http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/

Information on the most recent space shuttle mission with

links to all missions to date.

International Space Station (ISS)

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/

http://scipoc.msfc.nasa.gov/factchron.html

General and detailed information about the development

of the ISS, including links to recent news, details of assembly,

and images.
2000 66 ANNUAL REPORT

PROGRAM RESOURCES FOR FY 2000

1 2

unding for the Microgravity Research Program

in fiscal year (FY) 2000 totaled $220.9 million.

This figure includes the Microgravity Research Program

budget of $108.7 million and $112.2 million of the

Office of Space Flight’s budget, which is allocated for

International Space Station (ISS) utilization and facilities. These funds supported a variety of activities across

the microgravity science disciplines of biotechnology,

combustion science, fluid physics, fundamental physics,

and materials science, including an extensive groundbased research and analysis program; development and

flight of microgravity space shuttle and sounding rocket

missions; planning, technology, and hardware development for the ISS; and outreach and education. The

funding distribution for combined flight and ground

efforts in the various microgravity research disciplines is

illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 2 presents the allocation of funding in support

of ISS mission planning, development of ISS technology and

hardware, development of flight- and ground-based research

projects, execution of flight and ground investigations, and

development of technology to support those investigations.

The Microgravity Research Program operates primarily through four NASA field centers. Figure 3 illustrates the

funding distribution among these centers and includes NASA

headquarters funding. The Microgravity Research Program

science discipline authority and major responsibilities are

as follows:

o Glenn Research Center — combustion science, fluid

physics, and microgravity measurement and analysis.

o Jet Propulsion Laboratory — fundamental physics.

o Johnson Space Center — cell and tissue culture portion of

the biotechnology discipline.

o Marshall Space Flight Center — materials science,

molecular science portion of the biotechnology discipline, and

the glovebox program.

Figure 1 — FY 2000 Microgravity Funding

Distribution by Science Discipline

Biotechnology 14%

Combustion 

science 15%

Fluid 

physics 20%

Multidisciplinary 

activities 11%

Materials 

science 28%

Fundamental 

physics 9%

Other 3%

Figure 2 — FY 2000 Microgravity Funding

by Mission Function

Flight research 

investigations 8%

Flight research 

and development 10%

Ground-based research 

investigations 17%

Technology 

investigations 1%

Ground-based research 

and development 14%

ISS utilization

and facilities 50% 

(includes Office

of Space Flight

funds for ISS utilization and

facilities)

F

Figure 3 — FY 2000 Microgravity Funding

Distribution by NASA Field Centers

Marshall Space 

Flight Center 38%

Ames Research 

Center <1%

Johnson Space Center 8%

Kennedy Space Center 1%

Jet Propulsion 

Laboratory 9%

Headquarters 4%

Goddard Space Center 1%

Langley Research Center <1%

Glenn Research 

Center 39%
2000 ANNUAL REPORT 67

APPENDIX A GRANT RECIPIENTS

1 3

Appendix A: Fiscal Year 2000

Grant Recipients, by State 

(Includes some continuing projects at no 

additional cost)

\

Alabama 

J. B. Andrews 

University of Alabama, Birmingham; Birmingham, AL

Coupled Growth in Hypermonotectics 

Materials Science 

J. B. Andrews

University of Alabama, Birmingham; Birmingham, AL

The Effect of Convection on Morphological Stability During

Coupled Growth in Immiscible Systems

Materials Science 

R. M. Banish

University of Alabama, Huntsville; Huntsville, AL

Self-Diffusion in Liquid Elements 

Materials Science 

R. M. Banish 

University of Alabama, Huntsville; Huntsville, AL

Thermophysical Property Measurements of Te-Based II—VI

Semiconductor Compounds

Materials Science 

Daniel C. Carter 

New Century Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Huntsville, AL

Protein Crystal Growth Facility–Based Microgravity

Hardware: Science and Applications 

Biotechnology 

Alexander A. Chernov

Universities Space Research Association; Huntsville, AL

Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL

Morphological Stability of Stepped Interfaces Growing From

Solution

Materials Science 

Alexander A. Chernov 

Universities Space Research Association; Huntsville, AL

Marshall Space Flight Center; AL

Origin of Imperfections in Growing Protein Crystals by In-Situ

Rocking Curve Analysis

Materials Science 

Krishnan K. Chittur

University of Alabama, Huntsville; Huntsville, AL

Infrared Signatures for Mammalian Cells in Culture

Biotechnology 

Peter A. Curreri 

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville; Huntsville, AL

Fundamental Studies of Solidification in Microgravity Using

Real-Time X-Ray Microscopy

Materials Science 

Lawrence J. DeLucas 

University of Alabama, Huntsville; Huntsville, AL

A Comprehensive Investigation of Macromolecular Transport

During Protein Crystallization

Biotechnology 

Lawrence J. DeLucas

University of Alabama, Huntsville; Huntsville, AL

Development of Robotic Techniques for Microgravity Protein

Crystal Growth

Biotechnology 

Lawrence J. DeLucas

University of Alabama, Huntsville; Huntsville, AL

Microgravity Studies of Medically Relevant Macromolecules

Biotechnology 

Lawrence J. DeLucas

University of Alabama, Huntsville; Huntsville, AL

Protein Crystal Growth in Microgravity

Biotechnology 

Edwin C. Ethridge

Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL

Mechanism for the Crystallization Studies of ZBLAN

Materials Science 

Alexandre I. Fedoseyev

University of Alabama, Huntsville; Huntsville, AL

Theoretical and Experimental Investigation of Vibrational

Control of the Bridgman Crystal Growth Technique

Materials Science 

Donald C. Gillies

Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL

Solidification of II—VI Compounds in a Rotating Magnetic

Field

Materials Science 

Donald C. Gillies 

Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL

Use of Computed Tomography for Characterizing Materials

Grown Terrestrially and in Microgravity

Materials Science 

Richard N. Grugel 

Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL

Novel Directional Solidification Processing of

Hypermonotectic Alloys

Materials Science 
2000 68 ANNUAL REPORT

GRANT RECIPIENTS APPENDIX A 1 3

Richard N. Grugel 

Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL

Utilizing Controlled Vibrations in a Microgravity Environment

to Understand and Promote Microstructural Homogeneity

During Floating-Zone Crystal Growth

Materials Science 

Russell Judge

Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL

Macromolecule Nucleation and Growth Rate Dispersion

Studies: A Predictive Technique for Crystal Quality

Improvement in Microgravity

Biotechnology 

Craig E. Kundrot 

Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL

Optimizing the Use of Microgravity to Improve the Diffraction

Quality of Problematic Biomacromolecular Crystals

Biotechnology 

Sandor L. Lehoczky 

Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL

Crystal Growth of II—VI Semiconducting Alloys by

Directional Solidification 

Materials Science 

Sandor L. Lehoczky 

Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL

Growth of Solid-Solution Single Crystals

Materials Science 

Samuel A. Lowry

CFD Research Corporation; Huntsville, AL

Influence of Natural Convection and Thermal Radiation on

Multi-Component Transport and Chemistry in MOCVD

Reactors

Materials Science 

Jimmy W. Mays 

University of Alabama, Birmingham; Birmingham, AL

Controlled Synthesis of Nanoparticles Using Block

Copolymers: Nanoreaction in Microgravity Conditions

Materials Science 

Konstantin Mazuruk 

Universities Space Research Association; Huntsville, AL

Effects of Traveling Magnetic Field on Dynamics 

of Solidification

Materials Science 

Robert J. Naumann 

University of Alabama, Huntsville; Huntsville, AL

Control of Transport in Protein Crystal Growth Using

Restrictive Geometries

Biotechnology 

Robert J. Naumann 

University of Alabama, Huntsville; Huntsville, AL

Reduction of Convection in Closed-Tube Vapor Growth

Experiments

Materials Science 

Witold Palosz

Universities Space Research Association; Huntsville, AL

Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL

Investigation of Convective Effects in Crystal Growth by

Physical Vapor Transport

Materials Science 

Marc L. Pusey

Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL

A Diffractometer for Reciprocal Space Mapping of

Macromolecular Crystals to Study Their Microstructure

Biotechnology 

Marc L. Pusey 

Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL

Fluorescence Studies of Protein Aggregation in Under- and

Over-Saturated Solutions

Biotechnology 

Marc L. Pusey 

Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL

The Role of Specific Interactions in Protein Crystal Nucleation

and Growth Studied by Site-Directed Mutagenesis

Biotechnology 

Marc L. Pusey 

Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL

The Study and Optimization of Flow in Solution Biological

Crystal Growth

Fluid Physics 

Robert C. Richmond 

Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL

Heterozygous Ataxia-Telangiectasia Human Mammary 

Cells as a Microgravity-Based Model of Differentiation and

Cancer Susceptibility

Biotechnology 

Michael B. Robinson

Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL

A Study of the Undercooling Behavior of Immiscible Metal

Alloys in the Absence of Crucible-Induced Nucleation

Materials Science 

Robert S. Snyder

New Century Pharmaceuticals; Huntsville, AL

Electrophoretic Focusing

Biotechnology 
2000 ANNUAL REPORT 69

APPENDIX A GRANT RECIPIENTS

1 3

Doru M. Stefanescu

University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa; Tuscaloosa, AL

Particle Engulfment and Pushing by Solidifying Interfaces

(PEP)

Materials Science 

Ching-Hua Su 

Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL

Crystal Growth of ZnSe and Related Ternary Compound

Semiconductors by Vapor Transport

Materials Science 

Ching-Hua Su 

Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL

Structural Fluctuations and Thermophysical Properties of

Molten II—VI Compounds

Materials Science 

Frank R. Szofran

Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL

Reduction of Defects in Germanium-Silicon (RDGS) 

Materials Science 

Peter G. Vekilov

University of Alabama, Huntsville; Huntsville, AL

Effects of Convective Transport of Solute and Impurities on

Defect-Causing Kinetics Instabilities in Protein Crystallization 

Biotechnology

Peter G. Vekilov 

University of Alabama, Huntsville; Huntsville, AL

Protein-Precipitant-Specific Criteria for the Impact of

Reduced Gravity on Crystal Perfection

Biotechnology 

Maria I. Zugrav

University of Alabama, Huntsville; Huntsville, AL

Ground-Based Experiments in Support of Microgravity

Research Results: Vapor Growth of Organic, Nonlinear

Optical Thin Film

Materials Science 

Arizona 

James P. Allen

Arizona State University; Tempe, AZ 

Crystallization Mechanisms of Membrane Proteins 

Biotechnology 

Cho Lik Chan

University of Arizona; Tucson, AZ 

Effects of Gravity in Single- and Double-Diffusive Systems

Under Gravity Modulation 

Fluid Physics

Kenneth A. Jackson 

University of Arizona; Tucson, AZ

Growth of Rod Eutectics

Materials Science 

Kenneth A. Jackson

University of Arizona; Tucson, AZ

Non-Equilibrium Phase Transformations

Materials Science 

Jeffrey W. Jacobs

University of Arizona; Tucson, AZ

An Experimental Study of Richtmyer-Meshkov Instability in

Low Gravity 

Fluid Physics 

David R. Poirier

University of Arizona; Tucson, AZ

Comparison of Structure and Segregation in 

Alloys Directionally Solidified in Terrestrial and

Microgravity Environments

Materials Science 

K. R. Sridhar

University of Arizona; Tucson, AZ 

Development of Superior Materials for Layered Solid Oxide

Electrolyzers Based on Mechanical and Thermal Failure

Testing and Analysis

Materials Science 

K. R. Sridhar

University of Arizona; Tucson, AZ

Modeling of Transport Processes in a Solid Oxide Electrolyzer

Generating Oxygen on Mars

Fluid Physics 

Bruce C. Towe

Arizona State University; Tempe, AZ

Development of Microflow Biochemical Sensors for Space

Biotechnology 

Biotechnology 

California 

Davood Abdollahian

Scientech, Inc.; Campbell, CA

Experimental and Analytical Study of Two-Phase Flow

Parameters in Microgravity 

Fluid Physics 

Guenter Ahlers

University of California, Santa Barbara; Santa Barbara, CA

Boundary Effects on Transport Properties and Dynamic

Finite-Size Scaling Near the Superfluid-Transition Line of 4He 

Fluid Physics 
2000 70 ANNUAL REPORT

GRANT RECIPIENTS APPENDIX A 1 3

Guenter Ahlers 

University of California, Santa Barbara; Santa Barbara, CA

The Superfluid Transition of 4He Under Unusual Conditions 

Fundamental Physics 

M. Y. Bahadori

Science and Technology Development Corporation; Los

Angeles, CA

Gravitational Effects on Laminar, Transitional, and Turbulent

Gas-Jet Diffusion Flames (TDGF) 

Combustion Science 

Sanjoy Banerjee 

University of California, Santa Barbara; Santa Barbara, CA

Direct Numerical Simulation of Turbulent Flows With Phase

Change in Microgravity

Fluid Physics 

Sanjoy Banerjee

University of California, Santa Barbara; Santa Barbara, CA

Numerical Simulation of Electrochemical Transport Processes

in Microgravity Environments

Fluid Physics 

Martin B. Barmatz

Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Pasadena, CA

California Institute of Technology; Pasadena, CA

Microgravity Test of Universality and Scaling Predictions

Near the Liquid-Gas Critical Point of 3He

Fundamental Physics 

Rajendra S. Bhatnagar

University of California, San Francisco; San Francisco, CA

Expansion and Differentiation of Cells in Three-Dimensional

Matrices Mimicking Physiological Environments

Biotechnology 

John F. Brady

California Institute of Technology; Pasadena, CA

Dispersion Microstructure and Rheology in Ceramics

Processing

Materials Science 

John F. Brady 

California Institute of Technology; Pasadena, CA

Inertial Effects in Suspension Dynamics

Fluid Physics 

David S. Cannell

University of California, Santa Barbara; Santa Barbara, CA

Gradient-Driven Fluctuations

Fluid Physics 

Van P. Carey

University of California, Berkeley; Berkeley, CA

Marangoni Effects on Near-Bubble Microscale Transport

During Boiling of Binary Fluid Mixtures

Fluid Physics 

Jyh-Yuan Chen

University of California, Berkeley; Berkeley, CA

Numerical Study of Buoyancy and Differential Diffusion

Effects on the Structure and Dynamics of Triple Flames

Combustion Science 

Robert K. Cheng

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Berkeley, CA

Field Effects of Gravity on Lean Premixed Turbulent Flames

Combustion Science 

Talso C. Chui

California Institute of Technology; Pasadena, CA

The Lambda Transition Under Superfluid Flow Conditions

Fundamental Physics 

Vijay K. Dhir

University of California, Los Angeles; Los Angeles, CA

Investigations of Mechanisms Associated With Nucleate

Boiling Under Microgravity Conditions

Fluid Physics 

Vijay K. Dhir

University of California, Los Angeles; Los Angeles, CA

Transition From Pool to Flow Boiling — The Effect of

Reduced Gravity

Fluid Physics 

Ellen R. Dirksen

University of California, Los Angeles; Los Angeles, CA

Use of Microgravity-Based Bioreactors to Study Intercellular

Communication in Airway Cells

Biotechnology 

Derek Dunn-Rankin

University of California, Irvine; Irvine, CA

Applications of Electric Field in Microgravity Combustion

Combustion Science 

Douglas J. Durian

University of California, Los Angeles; Los Angeles, CA

The Melting of Aqueous Foams/FOAM (Foam Optics And

Mechanics)

Fluid Physics 

John K. Eaton

Stanford University; Stanford, CA

Attenuation of Gas Turbulence by a Nearly Stationary

Dispersion of Fine Particles

Fluid Physics 

Fokion N. Egolfopoulos 

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Detailed Studies on the Structure and Dynamics of Reacting

Dusty Flows at Normal- and Microgravity
2000 ANNUAL REPORT 71

APPENDIX A GRANT RECIPIENTS

1 3

Combustion Science 

Fokion N. Egolfopoulos

University of Southern California, Los Angeles; Los Angeles,

CA

Quantitative Studies on the Propagation and Extinction of

Near-Limit Flames Under Normal- and Microgravity 

Combustion Science 

Said E. Elghobashi

University of California, Irvine; Irvine, CA

Effects of Gravity on Sheared Turbulence Laden With Bubbles

or Droplets

Fluid Physics 

James W. Evans

University of California, Berkeley; Berkeley, CA

Exploiting the Temperature Dependence of Magnetic

Susceptibility to Control Convection in

Fundamental Studies of Solidification Phenomena

Materials Science 

C. W. F. Everitt

Stanford University; Stanford, CA

Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle (STEP)

Fundamental Physics 

Robert S. Feigelson

Stanford University; Stanford, CA

Investigation of the Crystal Growth of Dielectric Materials by

the Bridgman Technique Using

Vibrational Control

Materials Science 

Robert S. Feigelson

Stanford University; Stanford, CA

Laser Scattering Tomography for the Study of Defects in

Protein Crystals

Biotechnology 

A. C. Fernandez-Pello

University of California, Berkeley; Berkeley, CA

Flammability Diagrams of Combustible Materials in

Microgravity

Combustion Science 

A. C. Fernandez-Pello

University of California, Berkeley; Berkeley, CA

Fundamental Study of Smoldering Combustion in Microgravity

Combustion Science 

John A. Frangos

University of California, San Diego; San Diego, CA

Novel Strategy for Tridimensional In-Vitro Bone Induction

Biotechnology 

John A. Frangos

University of California, San Diego; San Diego, CA

Role of Fluid Shear on Three-Dimensional Bone Tissue

Culture

Biotechnology 

Alice P. Gast

Stanford University; Stanford, CA

Anisotropic Colloidal Self Assembly

Fluid Physics 

Alice P. Gast 

Stanford University; Stanford, CA

The Influence of Gravity on Colloidal Crystallization and

Field-Induced Aggregation

Fluid Physics 

Joe D. Goddard

University of California, San Diego; San Diego, CA

Material Instabilities in Particulate Systems

Fluid Physics 

Joe D. Goddard

University of California, San Diego; San Diego, CA

Vibratory Dynamics and Transport of Granular Media at

Various Gravity Levels

Fluid Physics 

Lawrence H. Heilbronn

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Berkeley, CA

Radiation Transmission Properties of In-Situ Materials

Materials Science 

Douglas E. Holmes

Telcom Devices; Camarillo, CA

Dimensional Stability of Supermatrix Semiconductors

Materials Science 

George M. Homsy

University of California, Santa Barbara; Santa Barbara, CA

Microgravity Fluid Mechanics: G-Jitter Convection and the

Mechanics of Fluidized Beds

Fluid Physics 

George M. Homsy

University of California, Santa Barbara; Santa Barbara, CA

Problems in Microgravity Fluid Mechanics: Thermocapillary

Instabilities and G-Jitter Convection

Fluid Physics 

George M. Homsy

University of California, Santa Barbara; Santa Barbara, CA

Solid-State Electrochemical Oxygen Conversion for Martian

and Lunar Environments: Materials Development, Reactor

Concepts, and Chemical Conversion Cycles

Materials Science 
2000 72 ANNUAL REPORT

GRANT RECIPIENTS APPENDIX A 1 3

Arlon J. Hunt

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Berkeley, CA

Porosity and Variations in Microgravity Aerogel

Nanostructures

Materials Science 

Melany L. Hunt 

California Institute of Technology; Pasadena, CA

Granular Materials Flows With Interstitial Fluid and

Electrostatic Charging Effects

Fluid Physics 

Ulf E. Israelsson

Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Pasadena, CA

California Institute of Technology; Pasadena, CA

Dynamic Measurements Along the Lambda Line of Helium in

a Low-Gravity Simulator on the Ground

Fundamental Physics 

Farrokh Issacci

Honeywell International; Torrance, CA

Two-Phase Flow in Multi-Channels — Liquid Holdup and

Capillary Flow

Fluid Physics 

William L. Johnson

California Institute of Technology; Pasadena, CA

Physical Properties and Processing of Undercooled, Metallic,

Glass-Forming Melts

Materials Science 

William L. Johnson

California Institute of Technology; Pasadena, CA

Thermophysical Properties of Metallic Glasses and

Undercooled Liquids

Materials Science 

Frances Jurnak

University of California, Irvine; Irvine, CA

Stabilization and Preservation of Crystals for X-Ray

Diffraction Experiments

Biotechnology 

Robert E. Kelly

University of California, Los Angeles; Los Angeles, CA

Studies in Thermocapillary Convection of the MarangoniBenard Type

Fluid Physics

Ian M. Kennedy

University of California, Davis; Davis, CA

The Impact of Buoyancy and Flame Structure on Soot,

Radiation, and NOx Emissions From a Turbulent Diffusion

Flame

Combustion Science

Edgar Knobloch

University of California, Berkeley; Berkeley, CA

Weakly Nonlinear Description of Parametric Instabilities in

Vibrating Flows

Fluid Physics

James L. Lambert 

Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Pasadena, CA

Development of a Noninvasive Glucose Monitor

Biotechnology

Melora E. Larson

Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Pasadena, CA

Experiments Along Coexistence Near Tricriticality (EXACT)

Fundamental Physics

Melora E. Larson

Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Pasadena, CA

Second Sound Measurements Near the Tricritical Point in

3He-4He Mixtures

Fundamental Physics

Melora E. Larson

Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Pasadena, CA

Static Properties of 4He in the Presence of a Heat Current in a

Low-Gravity Simulator

Fundamental Physics

L. G. Leal

University of California, Santa Barbara; Santa Barbara, CA

Interaction Forces and the Flow-Induced Coalescence of

Drops and Bubbles

Fluid Physics

John A. Lipa 

Stanford University; Stanford, CA

Confined Helium Experiment (CHeX)

Fundamental Physics

John A. Lipa 

Stanford University; Stanford, CA

Fundamental Physics Experiments With Superconducting

Cavity — Stabilized Oscillators on Space Station

Fundamental Physics

John A. Lipa

Stanford University; Stanford, CA

High-Resolution Study of the Critical Region of Oxygen Using

Magnetic Levitation

Fundamental Physics

John A. Lipa

Stanford University; Stanford, CA

A New Test of Critical Point Universality by Measuring the

Superfluid Density Near the Lambda Line of Helium
2000 ANNUAL REPORT 73

APPENDIX A GRANT RECIPIENTS

1 3

Fundamental Physics

John A. Lipa

Stanford University; Stanford, CA

A Renewal Proposal to Study the Effect of Confinement on

Transport Properties by Making Use of Helium along the

Lambda Line

Fundamental Physics

John A. Lipa 

Stanford University; Stanford, CA

A Test of Supersymmetry Theory by Searching for Anomalous

Short Range Forces

Fundamental Physics

Jing Liu

California State University, Long Beach; Long Beach, CA

Magnetorheological Fluids: Rheology and Nonequilibrium

Pattern Formation

Fluid Physics

Alexander J. Malkin

University of California, Irvine; Irvine, CA

Growth Processes and Defect Structure of Macromolecular

Crystals

Biotechnology

Stephen B. Margolis 

Sandia National Laboratories; Livermore, CA

Dynamics of Liquid Propellant Combustion at Reduced

Gravity

Combustion Science

John R. Marshall

Ames Research Center; Moffett Field, CA

Microgravity Experiments to Evaluate Electrostatic Forces in

Controlling Cohesion and Adhesion of Granular Materials

Fluid Physics

Alexander McPherson Jr. 

University of California, Irvine; Irvine, CA

Enhanced Dewar Program

Biotechnology

Alexander McPherson Jr.

University of California, Irvine; Irvine, CA

An Observable Protein Crystal Growth Flight Apparatus

Biotechnology

Eckart H. Meiburg

University of California, Santa Barbara; Santa Barbara, CA

The Dynamics of Particulate Deposition and Resuspension

Processes at Moderate to High Reynolds Numbers

Fluid Physics

Jack Miller

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Berkeley, CA

Radiation Transport Properties of Potential In Situ–Developed

Regolith-Epoxy Materials for Martian Habitats 

Materials Science

Kenichi Ohsaka

University of Southern California, Los Angeles; Los Angeles,

CA

Dynamically Induced Nucleation of Deeply Supercooled Melts

and Measurement of Surface Tension and Viscosity

Materials Science

Richard E. Packard 

University of California, Berkeley; Berkeley, CA

Superfluid Gyroscopes for Space

Fundamental Physics

David Pearson

California Institute of Technology; Pasadena, CA

Superfluid Density of Confined 4He Near Tl

Fundamental Physics

Robert L. Powell

University of California, Davis; Davis, CA

Experimental Studies of Multiphase Materials Using Nuclear

Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and NMR Imaging

Fluid Physics

Constantine Pozrikidis

University of California, San Diego; San Diego, CA

Dynamics of Accelerated Interfaces: Parametric Excitation

and Fluid Sloshing in Closed Containers and Open Tanks

Fluid Physics

Seth J. Putterman 

University of California, Los Angeles; Los Angeles, CA

Diffusing Light Photography of Containerless Ripple

Turbulence

Fluid Physics

Won-Kyu Rhim

Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Pasadena, CA

Measurements of Thermophysical Properties of Molten Silicon

and Germanium

Materials Science

Pat R. Roach

Ames Research Center; Moffett Field, CA

A Microgravity Helium Dilution Cooler

Fundamental Physics

Paul D. Ronney

University of Southern California, Los Angeles; Los Angeles,

CA

Extinction and Instability Mechanisms of Polymerization

Fronts

Materials Science
2000 74 ANNUAL REPORT

GRANT RECIPIENTS APPENDIX A 1 3

Paul D. Ronney

University of Southern California, Los Angeles; Los Angeles CA

Studies of Premixed Laminar and Turbulent Flames at

Microgravity

Combustion Science

Paul D. Ronney

University of Southern California, Los Angeles; Los Angeles,

CA

Transport and Chemical Effects on Concurrent and OpposedFlow Flame Spread at Microgravity

Combustion Science

Joseph Rudnick

University of California, Los Angeles; Los Angeles, CA

Finite Size Effects near the Liquid-Gas Critical Point of 3He

Fundamental Physics

Satwindar S. Sadhal

University of Southern California, Los Angeles; Los Angeles,

CA

Ground-Based Studies of Internal Flows in Levitated LaserHeated Drops

Fluid Physics

Satwindar S. Sadhal

University of Southern California, Los Angeles; Los Angeles,

CA

Nonintrusive Measurement of Thermophysical Properties of

Liquids by Electrostatic-Acoustic Hybrid Levitation

Materials Science

Robert L. Sah

University of California, San Diego; San Diego, CA

Cartilage Tissue Engineering: Circumferential Seeding of

Chondrocytes Using Rotating Reactors

Biotechnology

Benjamin D. Shaw 

University of California, Davis; Davis, CA

Combustion Experiments in Reduced Gravity With TwoComponent Miscible Droplets

Combustion Science

Benjamin D. Shaw

University of California, Davis; Davis, CA

Combustion of Han-Based Monopropellant Droplets in

Reduced Gravity

Combustion Science

Greg P. Smith

SRI International; Menlo Park, CA

Quantitative Interpretation of Optical Emission Sensors for

Microgravity Experiments

Combustion Science

Owen I. Smith

University of California, Los Angeles; Los Angeles, CA

Acoustically Forced, Condensed-Phase Fuel Combustion

Under Microgravity Conditions

Combustion Science

Donald M. Strayer

California Institute of Technology; Pasadena, CA

Precise Measurements of the Density and Critical Phenomena

of Helium Near Phase Transitions

Fundamental Physics

Peter Taborek

University of California, Irvine; Irvine, CA

Superfluid Contact Line Dynamics

Fluid Physics

Theofanis G. Theofanous

University of California, Santa Barbara; Santa Barbara, CA

The Pool Boiling Crisis From Flat Plates: Mechanism(s) and

Enhancement

Fluid Physics

James D. Trolinger

MetroLaser, Inc.; Irvine, CA

Investigate the Influence of Microgravity on Transport

Mechanisms in a Virtual Spaceflight Chamber

Materials Science

James D. Trolinger

MetroLaser, Inc.; Irvine, CA

Spaceflight Holography Investigation in a Virtual Apparatus

(SHIVA)

Materials Science

Forman A. Williams

University of California, San Diego; San Diego, CA

Droplet Combustion Experiment (DCE/DCE-2)

Combustion Science

Forman A. Williams

University of California, San Diego; San Diego, CA

High-Pressure Combustion of Binary Fuel Sprays

Combustion Science

Cary J. Zeitlin

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Berkeley, CA

Measurement of Charged Particle Interactions in Spacecraft

and Planetary Habitat Shielding Materials

Materials Science

Colorado

John M. Alford

TDA Research, Inc.; Wheat Ridge, CO 
2000 ANNUAL REPORT 75

APPENDIX A GRANT RECIPIENTS

1 3

Formation of Carbon Nanotubes in a Microgravity

Environment

Combustion Science

Melvyn C. Branch

University of Colorado, Boulder; Boulder, CO

Combustion of Metals in Reduced-Gravity and Extraterrestrial

Environments 

Combustion Science

Noel A. Clark

University of Colorado, Boulder; Boulder, CO 

Structure, Hydrodynamics, and Phase Transitions of Freely

Suspended Liquid Crystals

Fluid Physics

Joshua E. Colwell

University of Colorado, Boulder; Boulder, CO 

Collisions Into Dust Experiment-2

Fluid Physics

Joshua E. Colwell

University of Colorado, Boulder; Boulder, CO 

Dusty Plasma Dynamics Near Surfaces in Space

Fluid Physics

Joshua E. Colwell

University of Colorado, Boulder; Boulder, CO 

Physics of Regolith Impacts in Microgravity Experiment

(PRIME)

Fluid Physics

Robert H. Davis 

University of Colorado, Boulder; Boulder, CO

Surface Collisions Involving Particles and Moisture (SCIP’M)

Fluid Physics

Robert H. Davis

University of Colorado, Boulder; Boulder, CO 

Thermocapillary-Induced Phase Separation of Dispersed

Systems With Coalescence

Fluid Physics

Alan R. Greenberg

University of Colorado, Boulder; Boulder, CO

Influence of Solutocapillary Convection on Macrovoid Defect

Formation in Polymeric Membranes

Materials Science

John L. Hall

University of Colorado, Boulder; Boulder, CO

Fundamental Physics Using Frequency-Stabilized Lasers as

Optical “Atomic Clocks”

Fundamental Physics

John E. Hart

University of Colorado, Boulder; Boulder, CO

Stratified Taylor-Couette Flow With Radial Buoyancy

Fluid Physics

Larry W. Mason

Lockheed Martin Astronautics; Denver, CO

CO2 Acquisition Membrane (CAM)

Materials Science

John J. Moore

Colorado School of Mines; Golden, CO

A Fundamental Study of the Combustion Synthesis of CeramicMetal Composite Materials Under Microgravity Conditions —

Phase III: Effect of Gravity on the Combustion Synthesis of

Advanced, Engineered, Porous Materials

Combustion Science

Daniel R. Ohlsen

University of Colorado, Boulder; Boulder, CO 

Waves in Radial Gravity Using Magnetic Fluid

Fluid Physics

Jacques I. Pankove

Astralux, Inc.; Boulder, CO 

Optoelectric Neural System

Biotechnology

Stein Sture

University of Colorado, Boulder; Boulder, CO 

Mechanics of Granular Materials

Fluid Physics

Donald Sullivan

National Institute of Standards and Technology; Boulder, CO 

Primary Atomic Reference Clock in Space (PARCS)

Fundamental Physics

Paul Todd

University of Colorado, Boulder; Boulder, CO

Preparation and Analysis of RNA Crystals

Biotechnology

Mark M. Weislogel

TDA Research, Inc.; Wheat Ridge, CO 

Capillary Flow in Interior Corners

Fluid Physics

Connecticut

Robert E. Apfel

Yale University; New Haven, CT

Novel Concepts in Acoustophoresis for Biotechnology

Applications

Biotechnology
2000 76 ANNUAL REPORT

GRANT RECIPIENTS APPENDIX A 1 3

Robert E. Apfel

Yale University; New Haven, CT

Nucleation and Growth Mechanisms Underlying the Microstructure of

Polymer Foams Produced by Dynamic Decompression and Cooling

Materials Science

Amir Faghri

University of Connecticut; Storrs, CT

Evaporation, Boiling, and Condensation on/in Capillary

Structures of High Heat Flux Two-Phase Devices

Fluid Physics

Amir Faghri

University of Connecticut; Storrs, CT

Heat Transfer in Rotating Thin Liquid Films Including

Nucleate Boiling

Fluid Physics

Kurt Gibble

Yale University; New Haven, CT

Investigation of Future Microgravity Atomic Clocks

Fundamental Physics

Marshall L. Grant

Yale University; New Haven, CT

Effect of Structure-Dependent Interactions on the Formation of

Colloidal Aggregates and Nuclei

Fluid Physics

Juha Javanainen

University of Connecticut; Storrs, CT

Bose-Einstein Condensate and Atom Laser: Coherence and

Optical Properties

Fundamental Physics

Mark A. Kasevich

Yale University; New Haven, CT

Atom Interferometry in a Microgravity Environment

Fundamental Physics

Michael Loewenberg

Yale University; New Haven, CT

Flows of Wet Foams and Concentrated Emulsions

Fluid Physics

Michael Loewenberg 

Yale University; New Haven, CT

Rheology of Concentrated Emulsions

Fluid Physics

Marshall B. Long 

Yale University; New Haven, CT

Computational and Experimental Study of Laminar Diffusion

Flames in a Microgravity Environment

Combustion Science

Daniel E. Rosner

Yale University; New Haven, CT

Combustion of Individual Bubbles and Submerged Gas Jets in

Liquid Fuels

Combustion Science

Daniel E. Rosner

Yale University; New Haven, CT

Design/Interpretation of Microgravity Experiments to Obtain

Fluid/Solid Boundary Conditions in Non-Isothermal Systems

Fluid Physics

Mitchell D. Smooke 

Yale University; New Haven, CT

Computational and Experimental Study of Energetic Materials

in a Counterflow Microgravity Environment

Combustion Science

Delaware

Siu-Tat Chui

University of Delaware; Newark, DE 

Droplets of 3He-4He Mixtures

Fundamental Physics

Eric W. Kaler

University of Delaware; Newark, DE 

Protein Crystallization in Complex Fluids

Biotechnology

Eric W. Kaler

University of Delaware; Newark, DE 

Surfactant-Based Critical Phenomena in Microgravity

Fluid Physics

Leonard W. Schwartz 

University of Delaware; Newark, DE

Free-Surface and Contact-Line Motion of Liquids in a

Microgravity Environment

Fluid Physics

Florida 

Reza Abbaschian

University of Florida; Gainesville, FL

In-Situ Monitoring of Crystal Growth Using MEPHISTO

Materials Science

Reza Abbaschian 

University of Florida; Gainesville, FL

Morphological Stability of Faceted Interfaces

Materials Science
2000 ANNUAL REPORT 77

APPENDIX A GRANT RECIPIENTS

1 3

Timothy J. Anderson

University of Florida; Gainesville, FL

An Electrochemical Method to Visualize Flow and Measure

Diffusivity in Liquid Metals

Materials Science

Timothy J. Anderson

University of Florida; Gainesville, FL

An Electrochemical Method to Visualize Flow in Liquid Metals

Materials Science

Donald F. Cameron

University of South Florida; Tampa, FL

Development of an Insulin-Secreting, Immunoprivileged

Cell-Cell Aggregate Utilizing the NASA Rotating Wall

Vessel

Biotechnology

Ravindran Chella 

Florida State University; Tallahassee, FL

Lattice-Boltzmann Techniques for Multiphase Flow and

Transport in Microgravity Environment 

Fluid Physics

Charles E. HelmMarshallter 

Florida Institute of Technology; Melbourne, FL

New Cell Culture Technology

Biotechnology

Anthony J. Ladd

University of Florida; Gainesville, FL

Microgravity-Driven Instabilities in Gas-Fluidized Beds

Fluid Physics

Bruce R. Locke

Florida State University; Tallahassee, FL

Analysis of Electrophoretic Transport of Macromolecules

Using Pulsed Field Gradient NMR

Biotechnology

Efstratios Manousakis 

Florida State University; Tallahassee, FL

Theoretical Studies of Liquid 4He Near the Superfluid

Transition

Fundamental Physics

Ranga Narayanan

University of Florida; Gainesville, FL

Separation of Species by Oscillatory Flow

Fluid Physics

Daniel R. Talham

University of Florida; Gainesville, FL

The Features of Self-Assembling Organic Bilayers Important

to the Formation of Anisotropic Inorganic Materials in LowGravity Conditions

Materials Science

Daniel R. Talham

University of Florida; Gainesville, FL

The Features of Self-Assembling Organic Bilayers Important

to the Formation of Anisotropic Inorganic Materials in

Microgravity Conditions

Materials Science

Georgia

Vincent P. Conticello

Emory University; Atlanta, GA

Design, Synthesis, and Characterization of Well-Defined,

Biomimetic Polypeptide Networks

Biotechnology

Nikolaus Dietz

Georgia State University; Atlanta, GA

Optical Characterization of Gas Phase, Gas Phase Chemistry,

and Surface Chemistry During High-Pressure, Vapor-Phase

Deposition Processes Under Laminar and Turbulent Flow

Conditions

Materials Science

Arun M. Gokhale

Georgia Institute of Technology; Atlanta, GA

Effect of Gravity on the Evolution of Spatial Arrangement of

Features in Microstructure: A Quantitative Approach

Materials Science

G. P. Neitzel

Georgia Institute of Technology; Atlanta, GA

Noncoalescence in Microgravity: Science and Technology

Fluid Physics

Minami Yoda

Georgia Institute of Technology; Atlanta, GA

Novel Optical Diagnostic Techniques for Studying Particle

Contact and Deposition Upon a Large Cylinder in a Sheared

Suspension

Fluid Physics

Illinois 

Jens Alkemper

Northwestern University; Evanston, IL

The Evolution of Dendrite Morphology During Isothermal

Coarsening

Materials Science

Hassan Aref

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Urbana, IL
2000 78 ANNUAL REPORT

GRANT RECIPIENTS APPENDIX A 1 3

Fluid Physics of Foam Evolution and Flow 

Fluid Physics

S. G. Bankoff

Northwestern University; Evanston, IL

Control of Flowing Liquid Films by Electrostatic Fields in

Space 

Fluid Physics

Kenneth Brezinsky

University of Illinois, Chicago; Chicago, IL

Combustion Synthesis of Materials in Microgravity 

Materials Science

David M. Ceperley

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Urbana, IL

Prediction of Macroscopic Properties of Liquid Helium From

Computer Simulation

Fundamental Physics

Soyoung S. Cha

University of Illinois, Chicago; Chicago, IL

Three-Dimensional Velocity Field Characterization in a

Bridgman Apparatus: Technique Development and Effect

Analysis 

Materials Science

Jonathan A. Dantzig

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Urbana, IL

Adaptive-Grid Methods for Phase-Field Models of

Microstructure Development 

Materials Science

Jonathan A. Dantzig

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Urbana, IL

Phase-Field Modeling of Microstructure Development in

Microgravity

Materials Science

Stephen H. Davis 

Northwestern University; Evanston, IL

Interfacial Dynamics

Fluid Physics

Shankar Krishnan

Containerless Research, Inc.; Evanston, IL

Structure-Property Correlations of Phase Transitions in Group

IV and III-V Liquids

Materials Science

Jennifer A. Lewis

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Urbana, IL

Colloidal Stability in Complex Fluids

Materials Science

Seth Lichter

Northwestern University; Evanston, IL

The Micromechanics of the Moving Contact Line

Fluid Physics

Chang Liu

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Urbana, IL

Integrated Biomimetic Sensors Using Artificial Hair Cells

Biotechnology

Bernard J. Matkowsky

Northwestern University; Evanston, IL

Filtration Combustion for Microgravity Applications: (1)

Smoldering, (2) Combustion Synthesis of Advanced Materials

— PHASE 2 

Combustion Science

Constantine M. Megaridis

University of Illinois, Chicago; Chicago, IL

Fluid Dynamics and Solidification of Molten Solder Droplets

Impacting on a Substrate in Microgravity

Fluid Physics

Constantine M. Megaridis

University of Illinois, Chicago; Chicago, IL

Microgravity Investigation on the Formation of Oxides and

Adsorbed Oxygen Films in Solder Jetting Applications

Pertinent to the Electronics Manufacturing Industry

Materials Science

Constantine M. Megaridis

University of Illinois, Chicago; Chicago, IL

Molten-Metal Droplet Deposition on a Moving Substrate in

Microgravity: Aiding the Development of Novel Technologies

for Microelectric Assembly 

Fluid Physics

Allan S. Myerson

Illinois Institute of Technology; Chicago, IL

Diffusion, Viscosity, and Crystal Growth of Proteins in

Microgravity

Biotechnology

Allan S. Myerson

Illinois Institute of Technology; Chicago, IL

Thermodynamic and Spectroscopic Studies of Secondary

Nucleation in Microgravity

Materials Science

Alexander Z. Patashinski 

Northwestern University; Evanston, IL

Nonlinear Relaxation and Fluctuations in a Nonequilibrium,

Near-Critical Liquid With a Temperature Gradient

Fundamental Physics

Ishwar K. Puri

University of Illinois, Chicago; Chicago, IL

Gravitational Effects on Partially Premixed Flames

Combustion Science
2000 ANNUAL REPORT 79

APPENDIX A GRANT RECIPIENTS

1 3

Hermann Riecke

Northwestern University; Evanston, IL

Complex Dynamics in Marangoni Convection With Rotation

Fluid Physics

Mary Silber 

Northwestern University; Evanston, IL

Competing Instabilities and the Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of

Interfacial Wave Patterns

Fluid Physics

Siavash H. Sohrab

Northwestern University; Evanston, IL

Combustion of Rotating Spherical Premixed and Diffusion

Flames in Microgravity

Combustion Science

David M. Tiede

Argonne National Laboratory; Argonne, IL

Mechanisms for Membrane Protein Crystallization: Analysis

by Small-Angle Neutron Scattering

Biotechnology

Peter W. Voorhees

Northwestern University; Evanston, IL

Coarsening in Solid-Liquid Mixtures (CSLM)-2

Materials Science

John S. Walker

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Urbana, IL

Models of Magnetic Damping for Bridgman Semiconductor

Crystal Growth in Microgravity

Materials Science

John S. Walker

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Urbana, IL

Models to Optimize the Benefits of Rotating Magnetic Fields

for Semiconductor Crystal Growth in Space

Materials Science

Richard Weber

Containerless Research, Inc.; Evanston, IL

Microgravity Studies of Liquid-Liquid Phase Transitions in

Undercooled Alumina-Yttria Melts

Materials Science

Richard Weber

Containerless Research, Inc.; Evanston, IL

Process-Property-Structure Relationships in Complex Oxide

Melts

Materials Science

Charles F. Zukoski

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Urbana, IL

Particle Interaction Potentials and Protein Crystal Quality 

Biotechnology

Indiana 

Osman A. Basaran

Purdue University; West Lafayette, IN 

Forced Oscillation of Pendant and Sessile Drops

Fluid Physics

James A. Glazier

University of Notre Dame; Notre Dame, IN 

Diffusive Coarsening of Liquid Foams in Microgravity

Fluid Physics

David R. Johnson

Purdue University; West Lafayette, IN 

Experimental and Numerical Investigations of Growth

Morphologies of Peritectic Reactions

Materials Science

Mark J. McCready

University of Notre Dame; Notre Dame, IN 

Fundamental Processes of Atomization in Fluid-Fluid Flows

Fluid Physics

D. J. Morr

Purdue University; West Lafayette, IN 

Biological Particle Separation in Low Gravity

Biotechnology

Issam Mudawar

Purdue University; West Lafayette, IN 

Investigation of Critical Heat Flux in Reduced Gravity Using

Photomicrographic Techniques

Fluid Physics

Christie M. Traycoff

Indiana Cancer Research Institute; Indianapolis, IN 

Self-Renewal Replication of Hematopoietic Stem Cells in

Microgravity

Biotechnology

Arvind Varma 

University of Notre Dame; Notre Dame, IN

Mechanistic Studies of Combustion and Structure Formation

During Synthesis of Advanced Materials

Combustion Science

Iowa 

Mark A. Arnold

University of Iowa; Iowa City, IA

Real-Time Monitoring of Protein Concentration in Solution to

Control Nucleation and Crystal Growth

Biotechnology
2000 80 ANNUAL REPORT

GRANT RECIPIENTS APPENDIX A 1 3

Christoph Beckermann 

University of Iowa; Iowa City, IA

Dendritic Alloy Solidification Experiment (DASE) 

Materials Science

Christoph Beckermann

University of Iowa; Iowa City, IA

Equiaxed Dendritic Solidification Experiment (EDSE)

Materials Science

Amitava Bhattacharjee

University of Iowa; Iowa City, IA

Theory and Simulation of Ground-Based and Microgravity

Dusty Plasma Experiments

Fluid Physics

L.- D. Chen

University of Iowa; Iowa City, IA

Reflight of ELF (Enclosed Laminar Flames) Investigation

Combustion Science

John A. Goree

University of Iowa; Iowa City, IA

Plasma Dust Crystallization

Fluid Physics

Carole A. Heath

Iowa State University; Ames, IA

Determining the Conditions Necessary for the Development of

Functional Replacement Cartilage Using a Microgravity

Reactor

Biotechnology

Jeffrey S. Marshall

Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research; Iowa City, IA

Rivulet Dynamics With Variable Gravity and Wind Shear

Fluid Physics

David W. Murhammer

University of Iowa; Iowa City, IA

Continuous, Noninvasive Monitoring of Rotating Wall Vessels

and Application to the Study of Prostate Cancer

Biotechnology 

David W. Murhammer

University of Iowa; Iowa City, IA

Monitoring and Control of Rotating Wall Vessels and

Application to the Study of Prostate Cancer

Biotechnology 

Tonya L. Peeples

University of Iowa; Iowa City, IA

Extremophilic Interfacial Systems for Waste Processing in

Space

Biotechnology

Victor G. Rodgers

University of Iowa; Iowa City, IA

Evaluating Oxidative Stress in Virally Infected Cells in

Simulated Microgravity

Biotechnology

Rohit K. Trivedi 

Iowa State University; Ames, IA

Dynamical Selection of Three-Dimensional Interfacial

Patterns in Directional Solidification

Materials Science

Rohit K. Trivedi

Iowa State University; Ames, IA

Interface Pattern Selection Criterion for Cellular Structures in

Direction Solidification

Materials Science

John M. Wiencek

University of Iowa; Iowa City, IA

Rejuvenation of Spent Media Via Supported Emulsion Liquid

Membranes

Biotechnology

John M. Wiencek

University of Iowa; Iowa City, IA

Thermodynamics of Protein Crystallization and Links to

Crystal Quality

Biotechnology

Kansas

Mark D. Hollingsworth

Kansas State University; Manhattan, KS 

Crystal Growth of New Families of Ferroelastic Materials

Materials Science

Kenneth J. Klabunde

Kansas State University; Manhattan, KS 

Nanocrystal Superlattices: Synthesis and Properties

Materials Science

Christopher Sorensen

Kansas State University; Manhattan, KS 

Gelation in Aerosols: Non-Meanfield Aggregation Kinetics

Fluid Physics

Kentucky

Lori J. Wilson

Eastern Kentucky University; Richmond, KY

Metastable Solution Structure and Optimization Strategies in

Protein Crystal Growth
2000 ANNUAL REPORT 81

APPENDIX A GRANT RECIPIENTS

1 3

Biotechnology

Louisiana

Timothy G. Hammond

Tulane University Medical Center; New Orleans, LA

Differentiation of Cultured Normal Human Renal Epithelial

Cells in Microgravity

Biotechnology

Timothy G. Hammond

Tulane University Medical Center; New Orleans, LA

Production of 1-25- diOH D3 by Renal Epithelial Cells in

Simulated Microgravity Culture

Biotechnology

John J. Hegseth

University of New Orleans; Lakefront, LA

A Geophysical Flow Experiment in a Compressible Critical

Fluid

Fluid Physics 

John J. Hegseth

University of New Orleans; Lakefront, LA

Geophysical Flow Experiment in a Rotating Spherical

Capacitor

Fluid Physics

John J. Hegseth

University of New Orleans; Lakefront, LA

Growth and Morphology, Boiling, and Critical Fluctuations in

Phase-Separating Supercritical Fluids

Fluid Physics 

Kim C. O’Connor

Tulane University, New Orleans; LA

Insect-Cell Cultivation in Simulated Microgravity

Biotechnology

Maryland

Robert F. Berg

National Institute of Standards and Technology; Gaithersburg, MD 

Critical Viscosity of Xenon-2 (CVX-2)

Fundamental Physics

Linda G. Blevins

National Institute of Standards and Technology; Gaithersburg, MD

Carbon Monoxide and Soot Formation in Inverse Diffusion

Flames

Combustion Science

Kim D. Collins

University of Maryland Medical School; Baltimore, MD 

Ions and Protein Association: aw and Protein Crystals

Biotechnology

Sam R. Coriell

National Institute of Standards and Technology; Gaithersburg, MD 

Interface Morphology During Crystal Growth: Effects of

Anisotropy and Fluid Flow

Fluid Physics

Jocelyne Diruggiero

University of Maryland, College Park; College Park, MD 

Microbial Resistance to Solar Radiation: DNA Damage and

Application of Repair Enzymes in Biotechnology

Biotechnology

Richard A. Ferrell

University of Maryland, College Park; College Park, MD 

Critical Dynamics of Ambient-Temperature and LowTemperature Phase Transitions

Fundamental Physics

D. T. Gallagher 

Center of Advanced Research in Biotechnology; Rockville, MD

Protein and DNA Crystal Lattice Engineering

Biotechnology

Ashwani K. Gupta

University of Maryland, College Park; College Park, MD 

Studies on the Behavior of Highly Preheated Air Flames in

Microgravity

Combustion Science

Anthony Hamins 

National Institute of Standards and Technology; Gaithersburg, MD

The Extinction of Low Strain–Rate Diffusion Flames by an

Agent in Microgravity

Combustion Science

Cila Herman

Johns Hopkins University; Baltimore, MD 

Experimental Investigation of Pool Boiling Heat Transfer

Enhancement in Microgravity in the Presence of Electric

Fields

Fluid Physics

Takashi Kashiwagi

National Institute of Standards and Technology; Gaithersburg, MD 

Ignition and the Subsequent Transition to Flame Spread in

Microgravity

Combustion Science

Joseph L. Katz

Johns Hopkins University; Baltimore, MD 

Measurement of Liquid-to-Solid Nucleation Rates in

Undercooled Metallic Melts
2000 82 ANNUAL REPORT

GRANT RECIPIENTS APPENDIX A 1 3

Materials Science

Jungho Kim

University of Maryland, College Park; College Park, MD 

Investigation of Pool Boiling Heat Transfer Mechanisms in

Microgravity Using an Array of Surface-Mounted Heat Flux

Sensors

Fluid Physics

Jungho Kim

University of Maryland, College Park; College Park, MD 

Pooling Boiling Transfer Mechanisms in Microgravity and

Partial Gravity

Fluid Physics

Henryk Malak

Microcosm, Inc.; Columbia, MD

Cellular Oxygen and Nutrient Sensing in Microgravity Using

Time-Resolved Fluorescence Microscopy

Biotechnology

Richard H. Maurer

Johns Hopkins University; Laurel, MD 

Development of a Neutron Spectrometer to Assess Biological

Radiation Damage Behind Spacecraft Materials

Biotechnology

Geoffrey B. McFadden

National Institute of Standards and Technology; Gaithersburg, MD 

Convective and Morphological Instabilities During Crystal

Growth

Materials Science

Geoffrey B. McFadden 

National Institute of Standards and Technology; Gaithersburg, MD

A Phase-Field/Fluid Motion Model of Solidification:

Investigation of Flow Effects During Directional Solidification

and Dendritic Growth

Materials Science

Michael R. Moldover 

National Institute of Standards and Technology; Gaithersburg, MD

Acoustic Study of Critical Phenomena in Microgravity

Fluid Physics

George Mulholland

National Institute of Standards and Technology; Gaithersburg, MD 

Kinetics and Structure of Superagglomerates Produced by

Silane and Acetylene

Combustion Science

Hasan N. Oguz

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore; MD 

Production and Removal of Gas Bubbles in Microgravity

Fluid Physics

Ho J. Paik

University of Maryland, College Park; College Park, MD 

Search for Spin-Mass Interaction With A Superconducting

Differential Angular Accelerometer

Fundamental Physics

William D. Phillips

National Institute of Standards and Technology; Gaithersburg, MD 

Evaporative Cooling and Bose Condensates in Microgravity:

Picokelvin Atoms in Space

Fundamental Physics

Andrea Prosperetti

Johns Hopkins University; Baltimore, MD 

Acoustic Bubble Removal From Boiling Surfaces

Fluid Physics

Andrea Prosperetti

Johns Hopkins University; Baltimore, MD

Acoustic Bubble Removal From Boiling Surfaces and its

Optimization

Fluid Physics

Robert J. Schaefer

National Institute of Standards and Technology; Gaithersburg, MD

Thermophysical Properties of High-Temperature Liquid Metals

and Alloys

Materials Science

N. B. Singh

Northop-Grumman Corporation; Linthicum, MD 

Flight Experiment to Study Double Diffusive Instabilities in

Silver-Doped Lead Bromide Crystals

Materials Science

Kathleen J. Stebe

Johns Hopkins University; Baltimore, MD 

Marangoni Effects on Drop Deformation and Breakup in an

Extensional Flow: The Role of Surfactant Physical Chemistry

Fluid Physics

Kathleen J. Stebe

Johns Hopkins University; Baltimore, MD 

Using Surfactants to Control Bubble Growth Coalescence in

Nucleate Pool Boiling

Fluid Physics

Jose L. Torero

University of Maryland, College Park; College Park, MD 

Diffusion Flame Structure, Shape, and Extinction: Geometrical

Considerations

Combustion Science

Denis Wirtz

Johns Hopkins University; Baltimore, MD 

Novel Microgravity Optical Technique for Molecularly

Engineering Electrophoretic Media
2000 ANNUAL REPORT 83

APPENDIX A GRANT RECIPIENTS

1 3

Biotechnology

Massachusetts 

George Benedek

Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cambridge, MA

Kinetic Evolution of Stable and Metastable States in Protein

Solutions

Materials Science

Peggy Cebe

Tufts University; Medford, MA

Study of Development of Polymer Structure in Microgravity

Using Ellipsometry

Materials Science

Michael J. Cima

Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cambridge, MA

Forces During Manufacture and Assembly of Microscale

Discrete Electronic Components 

Materials Science

Merton C. Flemings

Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cambridge, MA

Measurement of the Viscosity and Surface Tension of

Undercooled Melts Under Microgravity Conditions and

Supporting Magnetohydrodynamic Calculations

Materials Science

Merton C. Flemings 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cambridge, MA

The Role of Convection and Growth Competition on Phase

Selection in Microgravity

Materials Science

Seth Fraden

Brandeis University; Waltham, MA

Nucleation of Colloidal and Protein Crystals in the Vicinity of

a Metastable Critical Point 

Fluid Physics

Lisa E. Freed 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cambridge, MA

Microgravity Tissue Engineering

Biotechnology

James C. Hermanson

Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Worcester, MA

Combustion Characteristics of Fully Modulated, Turbulent

Diffusion Flames in Reduced Gravity

Combustion Science

James C. Hermanson

Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Worcester, MA

Stability and Heat Transfer Characteristics of Condensing

Films in Reduced Gravity

Fluid Physics

R. G. Holt

Boston University; Boston, MA

Rheology of Foam Near the Order-Disorder Transition

Fluid Physics

R. G. Holt 

Boston University; Boston, MA

Sonoluminescence in Space: the Critical Role of Buoyancy in

Stability and Emission Mechanisms

Fluid Physics

Jack B. Howard

Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cambridge, MA

Combustion Synthesis of Fullerenes and Fullerenic

Nanostructures in Microgravity

Combustion Science

David L. Kaplan

Tufts University; Medford, MA

Hierarchical Assembly of Collagen

Materials Science

Alain S. Karma

Northeastern University; Boston, MA

Phase-field Simulations of Dendritic Growth at Low

Undercooling: Confronting Theory and Experiment

Materials Science

Alain S. Karma

Northeastern University; Boston, MA

The Role of Dynamic Nucleation at Moving Boundaries in

Phase and Microstructure Selection

Materials Science

Wolfgang Ketterle

Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cambridge, MA

Towards Precision Experiments With Bose-Einstein

Condensates

Fundamental Physics

Matthew B. Koss 

College of the Holy Cross; Worcester, MA

Transient Dendritic Solidification Experiment (TDSE)

Materials Science

Gareth H. McKinley

Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cambridge, MA

Extensional Rheology Experiment (ERE)

Fluid Physics

Gareth H. McKinley 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cambridge, MA

An Interferometric Investigation of Contact Line Dynamics in

Spreading Polymer Melts and Solutions

Fluid Physics
2000 84 ANNUAL REPORT

GRANT RECIPIENTS APPENDIX A 1 3

Gareth H. McKinley

Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cambridge, MA

Resin-Spinning of Synthetic Polymer Fibers With Silk-Like

Properties

Biotechnology

Ali Nadim

Boston University; Boston, MA

Determination of Interfacial Rheological Properties Through

Microgravity Oscillations of Bubbles and Drops

Fluid Physics

Keith E. Oslakovic

Molecular Geodesics, Inc.; Boston, MA

Functionally Adapted Biomimetic Materials for Space Exploration

Biotechnology

Peter J. Quesenberry

University of Massachusetts Medical Center; Worcester, MA

Stem Cell Expansion in Rotating Bioreactors

Biotechnology

W. T. Rawlins

Physical Science, Inc.; Andover, MA

Hyperspectral Imaging of Flame Spread Over Solid Fuel

Surfaces Using Adaptive Fabry-Perot Filters

Combustion Science

Thomas P. Russell

University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Amherst, MA

Capillary Wavelengths at Interfaces: The Role of Gravity and

Electric Field Enhancement

Materials Science

Albert Sacco Jr.

Northeastern University; Boston, MA

Modeling of Macroscopic/Microscopic Transport and Growth

Phenomena in Zeolite Crystal Solutions Under Microgravity

Materials Science

Donald R. Sadoway

Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cambridge, MA

From Oxygen Generation to Metal Production: In-Situ

Resource Utilization by Molten OxideElectrolysis

Materials Science

William J. Schwartz

University of Massachusetts Medical School; Worcester, MA

Microgravity and the Biology of Neural Stem Cells

Biotechnology

Frans A. Spaepen 

Harvard University; Cambridge, MA

Glass Formation, Nucleation, and Diffusion in Metallic Melts

Materials Science

Frans A. Spaepen

Harvard University; Cambridge, MA

Kinetics of Nucleation and Growth From Undercooled Melts

Materials Science

F. M. Stewart 

University of Massachusetts Medical School; Worcester, MA

Influence of Microgravity Conditions on Gene Transfer 

Into Expanded Populations of Human Hematopoietic Stem Cells

Biotechnology

Arthur J. Sytkowski

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Boston, MA

Production of Recombinant Human Erythropoietin by

Mammalian Cells Cultured in Simulated Microgravity

Biotechnology

Gretar Tryggvason 

Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Worcester, MA

Computational Modeling of the Effect of Secondary Forces on

the Phase Distribution in Dispersed Multiphase Channel

Flows

Fluid Physics

Gretar Tryggvason

Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Worcester, MA

Computations of Boiling in Microgravity

Fluid Physics

Michael Tsapatsis

University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Amherst, MA

Thin-Film Molecular Sieve Synthesis: ProcessingMicrostructure Relationships and the Effect of

Gravity on Microstructure

Materials Science

Ronald L. Walsworth

Smithsonian Institution; Cambridge, MA

Ground-Based Investigations With the Cryogenic Hydrogen

Maser

Fundamental Physics

David A. Weitz

Harvard University; Cambridge, MA

Fabrication of Photonic Structure With Colloid Engineering

Fluid Physics

David A. Weitz

Harvard University; Cambridge, MA

Physics of Colloids in Space (PCS)

Fluid Physics

August F. Witt

Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cambridge, MA

Identification and Control of Gravity-Related Defect

Formation During Melt Growth of Electro-Optic Single
2000 ANNUAL REPORT 85

APPENDIX A GRANT RECIPIENTS

1 3

Crystals: Sillenites (Bi12SiO20), BSO

Materials Science

Michigan 

V. S. Arpaci

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Ann Arbor, MI 

Marangoni Instability-Induced Convection in Evaporating

Liquid Droplets

Fluid Physics

Arvind Atreya

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Ann Arbor, MI

Radiant Extinction of Gaseous Diffusion Flames

Combustion Sciencer

Andre Benard 

Michigan State University; East Lansing, MI

Investigation of Solidification Processes With Convection

Using Meshless Methods and Quantitative Experimental

Verification

Materials Science

Thomas H. Courtney

Michigan Technological University; Houghton, MI 

Gravity-Induced Settling in Interconnected Liquid-Solid

Systems

Materials Science

Werner J. Dahm

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Ann Arbor, MI 

Turbulent Flame Processes Via Vortex Ring–Diffusion Flame

Interaction

Combustion Science

James F. Driscoll

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Ann Arbor, MI 

Flame Vortex Interactions in Microgravity to Assess the

Theory of Flame Stretch

Combustion Science

Gerard M. Faeth

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Ann Arbor, MI 

Flow/Soot Formation in Nonbuoyant Laminar Diffusion

Flames

Combustion Science

Gerard M. Faeth

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Ann Arbor, MI 

Investigation of Laminar Jet Diffusion Flames in

Microgravity: A Paradigm for Soot Processes in Turbulent

Flames

Combustion Science

Gerard M. Faeth

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Ann Arbor, MI 

Soot Processes in Freely Propagating Laminar Premixed

Flames

Combustion Science

James B. Grotberg 

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Ann Arbor, MI

Capillary-Elastic Instabilities in Microgravity

Fluid Physics

Ronald Larson 

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Ann Arbor, MI

Microscopic Visualization of Fluid Flow in Evaporating

Droplets and Electro-Osmotic Flows

Fluid Physics

Laura R. McCabe

Michigan State University; East Lansing, MI 

Microgravity Regulation of Oncogene Expression and

Osteoblast Differentiation

Biotechnology

Marc Perlin 

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Ann Arbor, MI

On the Boundary Conditions at an Oscillating Contact Line: A

Physical/Numerical Experimental Program

Fluid Physics

Marc Perlin

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Ann Arbor, MI

Using Nonlinearity and Contact Lines to Control Fluid Flow

in Microgravity

Fluid Physics

Michael J. Solomon

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Ann Arbor, MI

Aggregation and Gelation in Suspensions of Anisometric

Particles: Studies of Colloidal Platelets and Rods

Fluid Physics

Indrek S. Wichman

Michigan State University; East Lansing, MI 

Investigation of Diffusion–Flame Tip Instability in

Microgravity

Combustion Science

Minnesota 

Jeffrey J. Derby

University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; Minneapolis, MN 

Atomistic Simulations of Cadmium Telluride: Toward

Understanding the Benefits of Microgravity Crystal Growth

Materials Science
2000 86 ANNUAL REPORT

GRANT RECIPIENTS APPENDIX A 1 3

Jeffrey J. Derby

University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; Minneapolis, MN 

First Principles Calculations of Molten II-IV Compounds and

Their Solidification Behavior

Materials Science

Jeffrey J. Derby

University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; Minneapolis, MN 

Theoretical Analysis of Three-Dimensional, Transient

Convection and Segregation in Microgravity Bridgman Crystal

Growth

Materials Science

Mississippi 

John A. Pojman 

University of Southern Mississippi; Hattiesburg, MS

Transient Interfacial Phenomena in Miscible Polymer Systems

Materials Science

Joe B. Whitehead Jr. 

University of Southern Mississippi; Hattiesburg, MS

Phase Separation and Self-Assembly of Liquid Crystals and

Polymer Dispersions: A Ground-Based Feasibility Study for

Microgravity

Materials Science

W. W. Wilson

Mississippi State University; Mississippi State, MS 

Novel Approaches Regarding Protein Solubility

Biotechnology

Missouri 

Richard L. Axelbaum

Washington University, St. Louis; St. Louis, MO 

Flame Design — A Novel Approach to Clean, Efficient

Diffusion Flames

Combustion Science

Richard L. Axelbaum 

Washington University, St. Louis; St. Louis, MO

Gas-Phase Combustion Synthesis of Metal and Ceramic

Nanoparticles

Combustion Science

Delbert E. Day

University of Missouri, Rolla; Rolla, MO 

Kinetics of Nucleation and Crystal Growth in Glass-Forming

Melts in Microgravity

Materials Science

Kenneth F. Kelton

Washington University, St. Louis; St. Louis, MO

Phase Formation and Stability: Sample Size Effects

Materials Science

Kenneth F. Kelton

Washington University, St. Louis; St. Louis, MO 

Studies of Nucleation and Growth, Specific Heat and Viscosity

of Undercooled Melts of Quasicrystals and Polytetrehedral

Phase–Forming Alloys

Materials Science

New Hampshire 

Christopher J. Crowley

Creare, Inc.; Hanover, NH 

Scaling of Multiphase Flow Regimes and Interfacial Behavior

at Microgravity

Fluid Physics

Ursula Gibson 

Dartmouth College; Hanover, NH

In-Situ Optical Waveguides for Promoting and Monitoring

Protein Crystal Growth

Biotechnology

New Jersey 

Paul M. Chaikin

Princeton University; Princeton, NJ 

The Control and Dynamics of Hard-Sphere Colloidal

Dispersions

Fluid Physics

Edward L. Dreizin

New Jersey Institute of Technology; Newark, NJ 

In Reactive Molten Metal–Based Systems

Materials Science

Edward L. Dreizin

New Jersey Institute of Technology; Newark, NJ 

Interaction of Burning Metal Particles

Combustion Science

Benjamin J. Glasser

Rutgers University; Piscataway, NJ 

Effects of Gravity on the Mechanics of Fluidized Beds

Fluid Physics

Chung K. Law

Princeton University; Princeton NJ 

Structure and Response of Spherical Diffusion Flames

Combustion Science
2000 ANNUAL REPORT 87

APPENDIX A GRANT RECIPIENTS

1 3

Chung K. Law

Princeton University; Princeton, NJ 

Aerodynamics and Chemical Kinetics of Premixed Flames at

High Pressures

Combustion Science

Dudley A. Saville

Princeton University; Princeton, NJ 

Electrohydrodynamic Flows in Electrochemical Systems

Fluid Physics

Dudley A. Saville

Princeton University; Princeton, NJ 

Electrohydrodynamics of Suspensions

Biotechnology

Dudley A. Saville

Princeton University; Princeton, NJ 

Studies in Electrohydrodynamics

Fluid Physics

New Mexico

Stephen T. Boyd

University of New Mexico; Albuquerque, NM 

New Phenomena in Strongly Counterflowing He-II Near Tl

Fundamental Physics

Jeremiah U. Brackbill 

Los Alamos National Laboratory; Los Alamos, NM

Dynamic Modeling of the Microgravity Flow

Fluid Physics

Robert V. Duncan

University of New Mexico; Albuquerque, NM

Critical Dynamics in Microgravity

Fundamental Physics

Eiichi Fukushima

New Mexico Resonance; Albuquerque, NM

A Robust Magnetic Resonance Imager for Ground- and FlightBased Measurements of Fluid Physics Phenomena

Fluid Physics

Daniel J. Kane

Southwest Sciences, Inc.; Santa Fe, NM 

Real-Time, Quantitative, Three-Dimensional Imaging of

Diffusion-Flame Species

Combustion Science

Joel A. Silver

Southwest Sciences, Inc.; Santa Fe, NM 

Quantitative Species Measurements in Microgravity

Combustion Flames

Combustion Science

New York 

Andreas Acrivos

City College of the City University of New York; New 

York City, NY

The Synergism of Electrorheological Response,

Dielectrophoresis, and Shear-Induced Diffusion in 

Flowing Suspensions

Fluid Physics

C. T. Avedisian

Cornell University; Ithaca, NY

High-Pressure Combustion of an Unsupported Sooting Fuel

Droplet in Microgravity

Combustion Science

Jeffrey A. Bell

NYS Department of Health; Albany, NY

Protein Crystal–Based Nanomaterials

Biotechnology

George T. DeTitta

Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute; Buffalo, NY

Macromolecular Crystallization: Physical Principles, Passive

Devices, and Optimal Protocols 

Biotechnology

Michael Dudley

State University of New York, Stony Brook; Stony Brook, NY

White Beam X-Ray Topography and High-Resolution, Triple

Axis, X-Ray Diffraction Characterization

Materials Science

Peyman Givi

State University of New York, Buffalo; Buffalo, NY

Large Eddy Simulation of Gravitational Effects on

Transitional and Turbulent Gas-Jet Diffusion Flames

Combustion Science

Martin E. Glicksman

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Troy, NY

Evolution of Local Microstructures (ELMS): Spatial

Instabilities of Coarsening Clusters

Materials Science

Martin E. Glicksman

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Troy, NY

Follow-On Research Activities for the Rensselaer Isothermal

Dendritic Growth Experiment

Materials Science

James T. Jenkins

Cornell University; Ithaca, NY

Particle Segregation in Collisional Shearing Flows

Fluid Physics
2000 88 ANNUAL REPORT

GRANT RECIPIENTS APPENDIX A 1 3

James T. Jenkins

Cornell University; Ithaca, NY

Sheet Flows, Avalanches, and Dune Evolution on Earth and

Mars 

Fluid Physics

Donald L. Koch

Cornell University; Ithaca, NY

Turbulence-Induced Coalescence of Aerosol Particles

Fluid Physics

Joel Koplik

City College of the City University of New York; New York,

NY

Molecular Dynamics of Fluid-Solid Systems

Fluid Physics

David J. Larson Jr.

State University of New York, Stony Brook; Stony Brook, NY

Defects Numerically Decreased (DENUDE)

Materials Science

David J. Larson Jr.

State University of New York, Stony Brook; Stony Brook, NY

Orbital Processing of Eutectic Rod-Like Arrays (OPERA)

Materials Science

David M. Lee

Cornell University; Ithaca, NY

Studies of Atomic Free Radicals Stored in a Cryogenic

Environment 

Fundamental Physics

Sung P. Lin

Clarkson University; Potsdam, NY

Absolute and Convective Instability and Splitting of a Liquid

Jet at Microgravity

Fluid Physics

Michel Y. Louge 

Cornell University; Ithaca, NY

Studies of Gas-Particle Interactions in a Microgravity Flow

Cell

Fluid Physics

Charles Maldarelli

City College of the City University of New York; New York,

NY

Using Surfactants to Enhance Thermocapillary Migration

Bubbles and Drops and Facilitate Drop Spreading on

Hydrophobic Surfaces

Fluid Physics

Andreas Martin

Mount Sinai Medical Center; New York, NY

Thyroid Follicle Formation in Microgravity: ThreeDimensional Organoid Construction in a Low-Shear

Environment 

Biotechnology

Carlo D. Montemagno

Cornell University; Ithaca, NY

Engineering Control of a Biomolecular, Motor-Powered,

Nanochemical Device

Biotechnology

Aleksandar G. Ostrogorsky

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Troy, NY

Space- and Ground-Based Crystal Growth Using a Baffle

(CGB)

Materials Science

Jeevak M. Parpia

Cornell University; Ithaca, NY

The Effect of Thermal History, Temperature Gradients, and

Gravity on Capillary Condensation of Phase Separated Liquid

3He-4He Mixtures in Aerogel

Fundamental Physics

Miriam H. Rafailovich

State University of New York, Stony Brook; Stony Brook, NY

Microgravity Processing of Polymer Thin Films 

Materials Science

Liya L. Regel

Clarkson University; Potsdam, NY

Improved Crystal Quality by Detached Solidification in

Microgravity

Materials Science

W. M. Saltzman

Cornell University; Ithaca, NY

Enhancement of Cell Function in Culture by Controlled

Aggregation Under Microgravity Conditions

Biotechnology

Ashok S. Sangani 

Syracuse University; Syracuse, NY

Rapidly Sheared Bubbly Suspensions

Fluid Physics

Albert J. Sievers 

Cornell University; Ithaca, NY

Influence of Homogeneity and Fragility on the Dynamical

Properties of Glassy Networks

Materials Science

Paul H. Steen 

Cornell University; Ithaca, NY

Stability of Shapes Held by Surface Tension and Subjected to

Flow

Fluid Physics
2000 ANNUAL REPORT 89

APPENDIX A GRANT RECIPIENTS

1 3

Robert E. Thorne

Cornell University; Ithaca, NY

Defects, Growth, and Elastic Properties of Protein Crystals

Biotechnology

Robert E. Thorne

Cornell University; Ithaca, NY

Impurity Effects in Macromolecular Crystal Growth

Biotechnology

Peter C. Wayner Jr. 

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Troy, NY

A Study of the Constrained Vapor Bubble Heat Exchanger

Fluid Physics

Peter C. Wayner Jr.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Troy, NY

Theoretical and Experimental Investigation of the Stability of a

Evaporating Constrained-Vapor Bubble

Fluid Physics

William R. Wilcox

Clarkson University; Potsdam, NY

Residual Gas Effects on Detached Solidification in

Microgravity

Materials Science

William R. Wilcox 

Clarkson University; Potsdam, NY

Use of Microgravity to Control the Microstructure of Eutectics

Materials Science

H. A. Wood 

Cornell University; Ithaca, NY

The Effects of Microgravity/Low Shear on Glycosylation and

Eukaryotic DNA Virus Replication

Biotechnology

J. H. D. Wu

University of Rochester; Rochester, NY

Ex-Vivo Hemopoieses in a Three-Dimensional Human Bone

Marrow Culture Under Simulated Microgravity

Biotechnology

Nicholas J. Zabaras 

Cornell University; Ithaca, NY

On the Control of the Effects of Gravity on the Solidification

Microstructures Using Optimally Designed Thermal Boundary

Fluxes and Electromagnetic Fields

Materials Science

North Carolina 

Klaus J. Bachmann 

North Carolina State University; Raleigh, NC

Fundamental Aspects of Vapor Deposition and Etching 

Under Diffusion-Controlled Transport Conditions

Materials Science

Robert P. Behringer

Duke University; Durham, NC 

Dynamics of Granular Materials

Fluid Physics

Robert P. Behringer

Duke University; Durham, NC 

Gravity and Granular Materials

Fluid Physics

Jerry Bernholc

North Carolina State University; Raleigh, NC 

Growth and Properties of Carbon Nanotubes

Materials Science

Charles W. Carter 

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC

Quantitative Multivariate Methods for Pre-Flight Optimization

and Post-Flight Evaluation of

Macromolecular Crystal Growth

Biotechnology

William E. Kraus

Duke University Medical Center; Durham, NC 

Differentiation and Maintenance of Skeletal and Cardiac

Muscle in Simulated Microgravity

Biotechnology

William E. Kraus

Duke University Medical Center; Durham, NC 

Regulation of Skeletal Muscle Development and

Differentiation In Vitro by Mechanical and Chemical Factors

Biotechnology

Nancy Ma

North Carolina State University; Raleigh, NC

Models of Mass Transport During Microgravity Crystal

Growth of Alloyed Semiconductors in a

Magnetic Field

Materials Science

Horst Meyer

Duke University; Durham, NC 

Density Equilibration in Fluids Near the Liquid-Vapor Critical

Point

Fundamental Physics

Ohio

J. Iwan D. Alexander

National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and

Combustion; Cleveland, OH
2000 90 ANNUAL REPORT

GRANT RECIPIENTS APPENDIX A 1 3

Case Western Reserve University; Cleveland, OH 

Dynamics and Statics of Nonaxisymmetric Liquid Bridges

Fluid Physics

J. Iwan D. Alexander

National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and

Combustion; Cleveland, OH; 

Case Western Reserve University; Cleveland, OH 

Vibrations and G-Jitter: Transport Disturbances Due to

Residual Acceleration During Low-Gravity Directional

Solidification Experiments

Materials Science

C. D. Andereck 

Ohio State University; Columbus, OH

Ultrasonic Thermal Field Imaging of Opaque Fluids

Fluid Physics

Ramaswamy Balasubramaniam

National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and

Combustion; Cleveland, OH

Glenn Research Center; Cleveland, OH 

Instability of Miscible Interfaces

Fluid Physics

Joanne M. Belovich

Cleveland State University; Cleveland, OH 

An Acoustically Assisted Bioreactor for Terrestrial and

Microgravity Applications

Biotechnology

Gloria Borgstahl 

University of Toledo; Toledo, OH

Searching for the Best Protein Crystals: SynchrotronBased Mosaicity Measurements of Crystal Quality and

Theoretical Modeling

Biotechnology

Daniel L. Dietrich

Glenn Research Center; Cleveland, OH 

Candle Flames in Microgravity (CFM)

Combustion Science

Daniel L. Dietrich

Glenn Research Center; Cleveland, OH 

Combustion of Interacting Droplet Arrays in a Microgravity

Environment

Combustion Science

Prabir K. Dutta 

Ohio State University; Columbus, OH

Fundamental Studies of Crystal Growth of Microporous

Materials

Materials Science

Prabir K. Dutta

Ohio State University; Columbus, OH

Reverse Micelle–Based Synthesis of Microporous Materials in

Microgravity

Materials Science

Walter M. Duval

Glenn Research Center; Cleveland, OH 

Stereo-Imaging Velocimetry of Mixing Driven by BuoyancyInduced Flow Fields

Fluid Physics

Paul Ferkul 

National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and

Combustion; Cleveland, OH

Thickness Effects on Fuel Flammability

Combustion Science

Bing Gong

University of Toledo; Toledo, OH 

A New Class of Unnatural Folding Oligomers: Helices With

Nano-Sized Cavities

Biotechnology

DeVon W. Griffin

Glenn Research Center; Cleveland, OH 

Phase-Shifting Point Diffraction Interferometer for

Microgravity Fluid Physics

Fluid Physics

Prabhat K. Gupta

Ohio State University; Columbus, OH 

Interdiffusion in the Presence of Free Convection

Materials Science

Uday Hegde

Glenn Research Center; Cleveland, OH 

Characteristics of Non-Premixed Turbulent Flames in

Microgravity

Combustion Science

Tin-Lun Ho

Ohio State University; Columbus, OH 

Gravitational Effects in Bose-Einstein Condensate of Atomic

Gases

Fundamental Physics

John H. Hughes

Ohio State University; Columbus, OH 

The Effects of Microgravity on Viral Replication

Biotechnology

Donald T. Jacobs

The College of Wooster; Wooster, OH 

Turbidity and Universality Around a Liquid-Liquid Critical

Point

Fundamental Physics
2000 ANNUAL REPORT 91

APPENDIX A GRANT RECIPIENTS

1 3

Yasuhiro Kamotani

Case Western Reserve University; Cleveland, OH 

Bubble Generation in a Flowing Liquid Medium and Resulting

Two-Phase Flow in Microgravity

Fluid Physics

Yasuhiro Kamotani

Case Western Reserve University; Cleveland, OH 

Gas-Evolution Effect on Mass Transfer in Rotating

Electrochemical Cells Under Microgravity

Conditions

Fluid Physics

Mohammad Kassemi

National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and

Combustion; Cleveland, OH 

Bubble Dynamics on a Heated Surface

Fluid Physics

Mohammad Kassemi

National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and

Combustion; Cleveland, OH 

Determination of Gravity-Related Effects in Crystal Growth

From Melts With an Immiscibility Gap

Materials Science

Mohammad Kassemi

National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and

Combustion; Cleveland, OH

Effect of Marangoni Convection Generated by Voids on

Segregation During Low-g and 1-g Solidification

Materials Science

William B. Krantz 

University of Cincinnati; Cincinnati, OH

Microscopic Flow Visualization in Demixing Fluids During

Polymeric Membrane Formation in Low-G

Fluid Physics 

David H. Matthiesen

Case Western Reserve University; Cleveland, OH 

Diffusion Processes in Molten Semiconductors (DPIMS)

Materials Science

John McQuillen

Glenn Research Center; Cleveland, OH 

A Study of Bubble and Slug Gas-Liquid Flow in a

Microgravity Environment

Fluid Physics

John McQuillen

Glenn Research Center; Cleveland, OH 

Study of Two Phase Gas-Liquid Flow Behavior at ReducedGravity Conditions

Fluid Physics

Fletcher J. Miller 

National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and

Combustion; Cleveland, OH

Gravitational Influences on Flame Propagation Through

Nonuniform Premixed Gas Systems (Layers)

Combustion Science

Vedha Nayagam

National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and

Combustion; Cleveland, OH 

Dynamics of Droplet Combustion and Extinction in a Slow

Convective Flow (DDCE)

Combustion Science

Vedha Nayagam

National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and

Combustion; Cleveland, OH 

Stretched Diffusion Flames in Von Karman Swirling Flows

Combustion Science

Sandra L. Olson

Glenn Research Center; Cleveland, OH 

Low-Stretch Diffusion Flames Over a Solid Fuel

Combustion Science

Simon Ostrach

Case Western Reserve University; Cleveland, OH 

Industrial Processes Influenced by Gravity

Fluid Physics

Howard G. Pearlman 

Glenn Research Center; Cleveland, OH

The High-Lewis Number Diffusive-Thermal Instability in

Premixed Gas Combustion and Low-Temperature

Hydrocarbon Oxidation and Cool Flames

Combustion Science

Charles S. Rosenblatt

Case Western Reserve University; Cleveland, OH 

Determination of the Surface Energy of Liquid Crystals From

the Shape Anisotropy of Freely Suspended Droplets

Materials Science

Howard D. Ross 

Glenn Research Center; Cleveland, OH

Ignition and Flame Spread of Liquid Fuel Pools

Combustion Science

Kurt R. Sacksteder 

Glenn Research Center; Cleveland, OH

Flame Spreading and Extinction in Partial-Gravity

Environments

Combustion Science

Constance A. Schall

University of Toledo; Toledo, OH 

Influence of Impurities on Protein Crystal Growth
2000 92 ANNUAL REPORT

GRANT RECIPIENTS APPENDIX A 1 3

Biotechnology

Peter B. Sunderland

National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and

Combustion; Cleveland, OH

Glenn Research Center; Cleveland, OH 

Investigation of Velocity and Temperature in Microgravity

Laminar Jet-Diffusion Flames

Combustion Science

James S. T’ien

Case Western Reserve University; Cleveland, OH 

Combustion of Solid Fuel in Very Low-Speed Oxygen Streams

Combustion Science

Fumiaki Takahashi 

National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and

Combustion; Cleveland, OH

Reaction Kernel Structure and Diffusion-Flame Stabilization

Combustion Science

Padetha Tin

Glenn Research Center; Cleveland, OH 

Interfacial Energy Determination of Succinonitrile and

Succinonitrile-Acetone Alloy Using Surface Light–Scattering

Spectrometer

Materials Science

Randall L. Vander Wal

National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and

Combustion; Cleveland, OH 

Splashing Droplets

Fluid Physics

Randall L. Vander Wal

National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and

Combustion; Cleveland, OH 

The Synthesis of Graphite-Encapsulated Metal Nanoparticles

and Metal Catalytic Nanotubes

Combustion Science

Nengli Zhang 

Ohio Aerospace Institute; Cleveland, OH

Glenn Research Center; Cleveland, OH

Enhanced Boiling on Micro-Configured Composite Surfaces

Under Microgravity Conditions

Fluid Physics

Oklahoma 

Ajay K. Agrawal

University of Oklahoma; Norman, OK 

Gravitational Effects on Flow Instability and Transition in

Low-Density Jets

Fluid Physics

M. C. Altan 

University of Oklahoma; Norman, OK

Microgravity Impregnation of Fiber Preforms

Materials Science

Feng C. Lai

University of Oklahoma; Norman, OK 

Enhancement of Microgravity Fiber Impregnation Using

Electrohydrodynamic Induction Pumping

Fluid Physics

Ramkumar Parthasarathy

University of Oklahoma; Norman, OK 

Instability and Breakup of Gas Jets Injected in Coflowing

Liquids

Fluid Physics 

Penger Tong

Oklahoma State University; Stillwater, OK 

Studies of Particle Sedimentation by Novel Scattering

Techniques

Fluid Physics

Pennsylvania 

Portonovo S. Ayyaswamy

University of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, PA

The Use of Bioactive Glass Particles as Microcarriers in

Microgravity Environment

Biotechnology

Mun Y. Choi

Drexel University; Philadelphia, PA

Experiments and Model Development for Investigation of

Sooting and Radiation Effects in Microgravity Droplet

Combustion (SEDC)

Combustion Science

Lance R. Collins 

Pennsylvania State University; University Park, PA

Dynamics of Aerosol Particles in Stationary, Isotropic

Turbulence

Fluid Physics

Paul Ducheyne 

University of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, PA

Surface Transformation of Reactive Glass in a Microgravity

Environment

Materials Science

Stephen Garoff

Carnegie Mellon University; Pittsburgh, PA

Microscale Hydrodynamics Near Moving Contact Lines

Fluid Physics
2000 ANNUAL REPORT 93

APPENDIX A GRANT RECIPIENTS

1 3

Randall M. German

Pennsylvania State University; University Park, PA

Gravitational Effects on Distortion in Sintering

Materials Science

Daniel A. Hammer

University of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, PA

Engineering of Novel Biocolloidal Suspensions

Fluid Physics

Daniel A. Hammer

University of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, PA

Polymosomes: Tough Giant Vesicles From Block Copolymers

Materials Science

Peter I. Lelkes 

Drexel University; Philadelphia, PA

PC12 Pheochromocytoma Cells: A Proven Model System for

Optimizing Three-Dimensional Cell Culture Biotechnology in

Space

Biotechnology

Elliot M. Levine

The Wistar Institute; Philadelphia, PA

Multidisciplinary Studies of Cells, Tissues, and Mammalian

Development in Simulated Microgravity

Biotechnology

Patrick J. Loll

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; Philadelphia,

PA

Quantitative Analysis of Surfactant Interactions During

Membrane Protein Crystallization

Biotechnology

Gregory S. Rohrer

Carnegie Mellon University; Pittsburgh, PA

Shape Evolution of Small Ceramic Materials

Materials Science

Gary A. Ruff

Drexel University; Philadelphia, PA

Combustion of Unconfined Droplet Clusters in Microgravity

Combustion Science

Peter Schiffer 

Pennsylvania State University; University Park, PA

Experimental and Theoretical Studies of Wet Granular Media

Fluid Physics

Robert F. Sekerka 

Carnegie Mellon University; Pittsburgh, PA

Lattice Boltzmann Computations of Binary Diffusion in

Liquids Under Stochastic Microgravity

Materials Science

Paul J. Sides 

Carnegie Mellon University; Pittsburgh, PA

Lateral Motion of Particles and Bubbles Caused by Phoretic

Flows Near a Solid Interface

Fluid Physics

Jogender Singh

Pennsylvania State University; University Park, PA

Gravitational Effect on the Development of Laser Weld–Pool

and Solidification Microstructure

Materials Science

John M. Tarbell

Pennsylvania State University; University Park, PA

Microgravity Effects on Transendothelial Transport

Fluid Physics

Xiao-lun Wu

University of Pittsburgh; Pittsburgh, PA

Forced Two-Dimensional Turbulence in Freely Suspended

Films

Fluid Physics

Xiao-lun Wu

University of Pittsburgh; Pittsburgh, PA

Freely Suspended Liquid Films and Their Applications in

Biological Research

Biotechnology

Arjun G. Yodh

University of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, PA

Colloidal Assembly in Entropically Driven, Low

Volume–Fraction Binary Particle Suspensions

Fluid Physics

Rhode Island 

Charles Elbaum

Brown University; Providence, RI 

Kinetic and Thermodynamic Studies of Melting-Freezing of

Helium in Microgravity

Fundamental Physics

Mohammad Faghri 

University of Rhode Island; Kingston, RI

Phase Change in Low- and Jittering-Gravity Environment

Simulated via Electromagnetic Field

Fluid Physics

George M. Seidel

Brown University; Providence, RI 

Dynamics and Morphology of Superfluid Helium Drops in a

Microgravity Environment

Fundamental Physics
2000 94 ANNUAL REPORT

GRANT RECIPIENTS APPENDIX A 1 3

South Carolina 

Adam J. Smolka 

Medical University of South Carolina; Charleston, SC

Gastric Mucosal Cell Culture in Simulated Microgravity

Biotechnology

Tennessee 

Robert J. Bayuzick

Vanderbilt University; Nashville, TN 

Investigation of the Relationship Between Undercooling and

Solidification Velocity

Materials Science

Gerard J. Bunick

University of Tennessee, Oak Ridge; Oak Ridge, TN 

Reversible Cryogenic Storage of Macromolecular Crystals

Grown in Microgravity

Biotechnology

Kenneth Debelak 

Vanderbilt University; Nashville, TN

Recovery of Minerals in Martian Soils via Supercritical Fluid

Extraction

Materials Science

Andrienne C. Friedli

Middle Tennessee University; Murfreesboro, TN 

Development of Anionic Polyelectrolytes for Solid State

Battery Applications

Materials Science

William H. Hofmeister 

Vanderbilt University; Nashville, TN

Microgravity Processing of Oxide Superconductors

Materials Science

M. Douglas LeVan

Vanderbilt University; Nashville, TN

Separation of Carbon Monoxide From Carbon Dioxide for

Mars ISRU 

Fluid Physics

Alvin J. Sanders

University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Knoxville, TN 

Research and Analysis in Support of Project SEE (Satellite

Energy Exchange): Test of the Equivalence Principle and

Measurement of Gravitational Interaction Parameters in an

Ultra-Precise Microgravity Environment

Fundamental Physics

Lawrence W. Townsend

University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Knoxville, TN 

Development of a Monte Carlo Radiation Transport Code

System for HEDS

Materials Science

Texas 

John G. Albright 

Texas Christian University; Fort Worth, TX

Experimental Assessment of Multicomponent Effects in

Diffusion-Dominated Transport in Protein Crystal Growth and

Electrophoresis and Chiral Separations

Biotechnology

Vemuri Balakotaiah

University of Houston; Houston, TX 

Two-Phase Gas-Liquid Flows in Microgravity: Experimental

and Theoretical Investigation of the Annular Flow

Fluid Physics

Vimlarani Chopra

University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston; Galveston, TX 

Differentiation of Three-Dimensional Cocultures of

Myofibroblasts, Preneoplastic Epithelial, and Mononuclear

Cells

Biotechnology

Noel T. Clemens 

University of Texas, Austin; Austin, TX

Investigation of Strain/Vorticity and Large-Scale Flow

Structure in Turbulent Nonpremixed Jet Flames

Combustion Science

Gerard L. Cote

Texas A&M University; College Station, TX 

Investigation of Neuronal Physiology in Simulated

Microgravity Using Smart Fluorescent Microcarriers and Bulk

Near-Infrared Sensors

Biotechnology

Gerard L. Cote

Texas A&M University; College Station, TX 

Noninvasive Near-Infrared Sensor for Continual Cell Glucose

Measurement

Biotechnology

Jonathan M. Friedman

University of Houston; Houston, TX 

Epitaxial Growth of Protein Crystals on Self-Assembled

Monolayers

Biotechnology

Steve R. Gonda 

Johnson Space Center; Houston, TX

A Microgravity-Based, Three-Dimensional Transgenic Cell

Model to Quantify Genotoxic Effects in Space
2000 ANNUAL REPORT 95

APPENDIX A GRANT RECIPIENTS

1 3

Biotechnology

Steve R. Gonda

Johnson Space Center; Houston, TX 

Microgravity-Based Three-Dimensional Transgenic Cell

Models

Biotechnology

Thomas J. Goodwin

Johnson Space Center; Houston, TX 

Lymphocyte Invasion Into Tumor Models Emulated Under

Microgravity Conditions In Vitro

Biotechnology

Elizabeth A. Grimm

University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center; Houston, TX 

Application of Bioreactor Technology for Analysis and

Counter Measure Development of Microgravity-Induced

Suppression of Innate Immunity

Biotechnology

Elizabeth A. Grimm

University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center; Houston, TX

Application of Bioreactor Technology for a Preclinical Human

Model of Melanoma

Biotechnology

Naomi J. Halas 

Rice University; Houston, TX

Metal Nanoshell Functionalization and Materials Assembly:

Effects of Microgravity Conditions

Materials Science

Daniel J. Heinzen

University of Texas, Austin; Austin, TX 

Precision Measurements With Trapped, Laser-Cooled Atoms in

a Microgravity Environment

Fundamental Physics

Randall G. Hulet

Rice University; Houston, TX 

A Quantum Degenerate Fermi Gas of 6Li Atoms

Fundamental Physics

J. M. Jessup

University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio; San

Antonio, TX 

Growth, Metabolism, and Differentiation of MIP-101

Carcinoma Cells

Biotechnology

J. M. Jessup

University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio; San

Antonio, TX 

Use of NASA Bioreactor to Study Cell Cycle Regulation

Biotechnology

Philip C. Johnson

University of Texas Medical School, Houston; Houston, TX 

Use of Rotating Wall Vessel (RWV) to Facilitate Culture of

Norwalk Virus

Biotechnology

Anil D. Kulkarni

University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston; Houston,

TX 

Nutritional Immunomodulation in Microgravity: Application of

Ground-Based In-Vivo and In-Vitro Bioreactor Models to

Study Role and Mechanisms of Supplemental Nucleotides

Biotechnology

Neal R. Pellis 

Johnson Space Center; Houston, TX

Microgravity and Immunosuppression: A Ground-Based Model

in the Slow-Turning Lateral Vessel Bioreactor

Biotechnology

Lawrence S. Pinsky 

University of Houston; Houston, TX

Development of a Space Radiation Monte Carlo Simulation

Based Upon The FLUKA and ROOT Codes

Materials Science

Arun S. Rajan 

Baylor College of Medicine; Houston, TX

Islet Cell Assembly and Function in a NASA Microgravity

Bioreactor

Biotechnology

Lynne P. Rutzky

University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston; Houston, TX 

Impact of Microgravity on Immunogenicity Associated With

Biostructural Changes in Pancreatic Islets

Biotechnology

Cherylyn A. Savary 

University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center; Houston,

TX

Use of NASA Bioreactors in a Novel Scheme for Immunization

Against Cancer

Biotechnology

Jamal Seyed-Yagoobi 

Texas A&M University; College Station, TX

Thermal Control and Enhancement of Heat Transport

Capacity of Cryogenic Capillary-Pumped Loops and Heat

Pipes With Electrohydrodynamics

Fluid Physics

Glenn F. Spaulding

Clear Lake Medical Foundation, Inc.; Houston, TX 

Application of pH, Glucose, and Oxygen Biosensors to NASA

Rotating Culture Vessels

Biotechnology
2000 96 ANNUAL REPORT

GRANT RECIPIENTS APPENDIX A 1 3

Harry L. Swinney

University of Texas, Austin; Austin, TX 

Instabilities in Surface Tension–Driven Convection

Fluid Physics

Philip Varghese 

University of Texas, Austin; Austin, TX

Laser Velocimeter for Studies of Microgravity Combustion

Flowfields

Combustion Science

Theodore G. Wensel

Baylor College of Medicine; Houston, TX 

Two-Dimensional Crystal Growth in Microgravity

Biotechnology

Boris Yoffe 

Baylor College of Medicine; Houston, TX

Liver Tissue Engineering in Microgravity Environment

Biotechnology

Utah 

Jules J. Magda

University of Utah; Salt Lake City, UT

Novel Microstructures for Polymer-Liquid Crystal Composite

Materials

Materials Science

William E. Mell 

University of Utah; Salt Lake City, UT

Simulation of Combustion Systems With Realistic G-Jitter

Combustion Science

Virginia 

Harsha K. Chelliah

University of Virginia; Charlottesville, VA

Heterogeneous Combustion of Porous Solid-Fuel Particles

Under Microgravity: A Comprehensive Theoretical and

Experimental Study

Combustion Science

Leland W. Chung 

University of Virginia; Charlottesville, VA

Microgravity-Simulated Prostate Cell Culture

Biotechnology

Leland W. Chung

University of Virginia; Charlottesville, VA

Modeling Prostate Cancer Skeletal Metastasis and Gene

Therapy

Biotechnology

M. S. El-Shall 

Virginia Commonwealth University; Richmond, VA

Gas-Phase Polymerization and Nucleation Experiments in

Microgravity

Materials Science

M. S. El-Shall

Virginia Commonwealth University; Richmond, VA

Studies on Nucleation, Polymerization, and Nanoparticle

Composites in Supersaturated Vapors Under Microgravity

Conditions

Materials Science

Michael C. Wiener

Health Sciences Center; Charlottesville, VA

Membrane Protein Crystallization Screens Based Upon

Fundamental Phenomenology of Detergent and ProteinDetergent Solutions 

Biotechnology

John Wilson

Langley Research Center; Hampton, VA

Improved Spacecraft Materials for Radiation Shielding

Materials Science

Washington 

E. J. Davis

University of Washington; Seattle, WA

Phoretic and Radiometric Force Measurements on

Microparticles Under Microgravity Conditions

Fluid Physics

Ben Q. Li

Washington State University; Pullman, WA

A Comparative Modeling Study of Magnetic and Electrostatic

Levitation in Microgravity

Materials Science

Ben Q. Li 

Washington State University; Pullman, WA

Study of Magnetic Damping Effect on Convection and

Solidification Under G-Jitter Conditions

Materials Science

Ben Q. Li 

Washington State University; Pullman, WA

Study of Magnetic Field Effects on Convection and

Solidification in Normal- and Microgravity

Materials Science

Philip L. Marston

Washington State University; Pullman, WA

Passive and Active Stabilization of Liquid Bridges in Low

Gravity
2000 ANNUAL REPORT 97

APPENDIX A GRANT RECIPIENTS

1 3

Fluid Physics

Philip L. Marston

Washington State University; Pullman, WA

Passive or Active Radiation Stress Stabilization of (and

Coupling to) Liquid Bridges and Bridge Networks

Fluid Physics

Philip L. Marston

Washington State University; Pullman, WA

Single-Bubble Sonoluminescence in Low Gravity and Optical

Radiation Pressure Positioning of the Bubble

Fluid Physics

Thomas J. Matula

University of Washington; Seattle, WA

Buoyancy-Driven Instabilities in Single-Bubble

Sonoluminescence

Fluid Physics

Warren Nagourney

University of Washington; Seattle, WA

Indium Mono-Ion Oscillator II

Fundamental Physics

Viola Vogel 

University of Washington; Seattle, WA

Motor Proteins as Shuttles for Directed Transport in Synthetic

Matrices

Biotechnology

Wisconsin 

Reid F. Cooper 

University of Wisconsin, Madison; Madison, WI

Dynamic Reduction and the Creation of Fine-Grained

Ceramics From Inviscid Oxide/Silicate Melts

Materials Science

Sindo Kou 

University of Wisconsin, Madison; Madison, WI

Physical Simulation of Marangoni Convection in Weld Pools

Materials Science

Sindo Kou 

University of Wisconsin, Madison; Madison, WI

Thermocapillary Convection in Low Pr Materials Under

Simulated Reduced-Gravity Conditions

Fluid Physics

John H. Perepezko

University of Wisconsin, Madison; Madison, WI 

Analysis of Containerless Processing and Undercooled

Solidification Microstructures

Material Science

John H. Perepezko

University of Wisconsin, Madison; Madison, WI 

Analysis of Containerless Solidification Microstructures in

Undercooled Melts and Composite Systems

Materials Science

Eric E. Rice 

Orbital Technologies Corporation; Madison, WI

Carbon-Based Reduction of Lunar Regolith (CRLR)

Materials Science

Eric E. Rice

Orbital Technologies Corporation; Madison, WI

Development of Methods for Producing and Utilizing Alternate

Fuel/Oxidizer Combinations Associated With Mars to Support

ISRU-Based Propulsion and Power Systems

Combustion Science

District of Columbia 

Glenn R. Joyce

Naval Research Laboratory; Washington, DC 

Modeling Dusty Plasmas in Microgravity

Fluid Physics

John H. Konnert 

Naval Research Laboratory; Washington, DC

Applications of Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) to Investigate

Mechanisms of Protein Crystal Growth

Biotechnology

Keith B. Ward 

Naval Research Laboratory; Washington, DC

Investigation of the Particle Dynamics in the Vicinity of

Crystal Surfaces: Depletion Zone Dynamics

Biotechnology 
2000 98 ANNUAL REPORT

MICROGRAVITY EXPERIMENT HARDWARE APPENDIX B 1 3

APPENDIX B:

Microgravity Experiment

Hardware Flights to the

International Space Station

Below are two lists of selected payloads for

the International Space Station (ISS) and the associated EXPRESS (Expedite Processing of Experiments

to Space Station) racks and microgravity facilities

in the order of their flight to the station. Early on,

microgravity research is limited to EXPRESS payloads and Microgravity Science Glovebox investigations, as reflected in the first list, which includes

investigations currently manifested. The second list

comprises payloads in development that are candidates for later flights. 

Protein Crystal Growth — Enhanced

Gaseous Nitrogen Dewar: This apparatus is a GN2 dewar that can maintain samples at cryogenic temperature for about 10 days. Frozen liquid-liquid diffusion and batch protein crystal growth experiments

are launched in a dewar and then allowed to thaw to

initiate the crystallization process in a microgravity

environment. The dewar houses a protein crystal

growth insert typically holding approximately 500

protein samples. (Next flight: 5A) 

Microgravity Acceleration Measurement

System (MAMS): MAMS provides quasi–steady

state microgravity acceleration levels at low frequencies (0.01 to 2 Hz) with extreme accuracy. It is

an enhanced version of the Orbital Acceleration

Research Experiment space shuttle system. Using

MAMS data, the microgravity level at any point in

the U.S. Laboratory or on the ISS can be calculated

using a transformation matrix and a known center of

gravity for the station. (First flight: 6A)

Space Acceleration Measurement System,

Second Generation (SAMS-II): The SAMS-II

instrument will be an early addition to the ISS and

will most likely remain onboard for the life of the

station. SAMS-II will measure vibratory accelerations (transients) in support of a variety of microgravity science experiments. It will also characterize

the ISS microgravity environment for future payloads. (First flight: 6A)

Protein Crystal Growth — Single

Thermal Enclosure System (PCG-STES): The

PCG-STES hardware is a single EXPRESS locker

that provides a controlled temperature environment

within ± 0.5 ° C of a set point in the range from

4–40 °C. The PCG-STES houses a variety of protein crystal growth apparatus including VDA-2,

DCAM, and PCAM. (First flight: 6A)

Protein Crystal Growth — Biotechnology

Ambient Generic (PCG-BAG): This apparatus

flies PCAM, DCAM, or VDA-2 hardware as ambient stowage items within a middeck locker or Cargo

Transfer Bag. (First flight: 7A)

Vapor Diffusion Apparatus, Second

Generation (VDA-2): VDA-2 uses the vapor diffusion method (hanging drop technique) for protein

crystal growth in order to produce large, high-quality crystals of selected proteins. The 20 growth

chambers need to be activated to start the process

and deactivated to stop it. The PCG-STES holds

four trays, the PCG-BAG holds six trays. (First

flight: 6A, as part of the PCG-STES) 

Diffusion-Controlled Crystallization

Apparatus for Microgravity (DCAM): The

DCAM system can use the liquid-liquid diffusion or

dialysis method of protein crystal growth to produce

high-quality single crystals of selected proteins.

Three DCAM trays, each with 27 chambers, are

flown per PCG-STES or PCG-BAG. (First flight:

To be determined)

Protein Crystallization Apparatus for

Microgravity (PCAM): PCAM uses the vapor-diffusion method to produce large, high-quality crystals of selected proteins. Each PCAM is a cylindrical stack of nine trays, each with seven chambers, to

provide 63 chambers for protein crystal growth. The

PCG-STES holds six cylinders; the PCG-BAG

holds eight. (First flight: 6A, as part of the PCGSTES)

Physics of Colloids in Space (PCS): The

PCS experiment hardware supports investigations of

the physical properties and dynamics of formation

of colloidal superlattices and large-scale fractal

aggregates using laser light scattering. PCS

advances understanding of fabrication methods for

producing new crystalline materials. (First flight:

6A)

Dynamically Controlled Protein Crystal

Growth (DCPCG): The DCPCG apparatus comprises two components: the command and data management locker and the vapor locker. The command
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APPENDIX B MICROGRAVITY EXPERIMENT HARDWARE

1 3

locker controls experiment processes in the vapor

locker. It also collects data, performs telemetry

functions, and is programmable from the ground.

The vapor locker holds 40 protein samples. (First

flight: 7A.1)

Lab Support Equipment — Digital

Thermometer: This instrument is an off-the-shelf

digital thermometer that will be used by ISS payloads to measure temperatures by utilizing a variety

of thermocouple probes. (First flight: 7A.1)

Biotechnology Specimen Temperature

Controller (BSTC): This apparatus will provide a

platform for the study of basic cell-to-cell interactions in a quiescent cell culture environment and the

role of these interactions in the formation of functional cell aggregates and tissues. BSTC will operate primarily in the incubation mode. The

Biotechnology Refrigerator (BTR), Biotechnology

Cell Science Stowage (BCSS), and the Gas Supply

Module (GSM) support BSTC research. (First

flight: 7A.1)

Pore Formation and Mobility: This

investigation promotes understanding of detrimental

pore formation and mobility during controlled directional solidification processing in a microgravity

environment. This Microgravity Science Glovebox

(MSG) investigation will utilize a transparent material, succinonitrile, so that direct observation and

recording of pore generation and mobility during

controlled solidification can be made. (First flight:

Second Utilization Flight (UF-2))

Glovebox Integrated Microgravity

Isolation Technology (g-LIMIT): G-LIMIT hardware is being developed to provide attenuation of

unwanted accelerations within the MSG; to characterize the MSG acceleration environment; and to

demonstrate high-performance, robust control technology. It will also be available to provide vibration

isolation and measurement to other MSG investigations. (First flight: UF-2)

Solidification Using a Baffle in Sealed

Ampoules: This investigation will test the performance of an automatically moving baffle in microgravity and determine the behavior and possible

advantages of liquid encapsulation in microgravity

conditions. This low-cost MSG experiment will

resolve several key technological questions and

lessen the risk and uncertainties of using a baffle

and liquid encapsulation in future major materials

science facilities. (First flight: UF-2)

Delta-L: The Delta-L investigation will

replace hardware previously known as the

Interferometer for Protein Crystal Growth. This

MSG investigation will study the crystal growth

characteristics of biological macromolecules in

microgravity. Data from this investigation will be

used to verify the theory that growth rate dispersion

plays a role in crystal quality improvement in microgravity. (First flight: First Utilization Logistics Flight

(ULF-1)

Investigating the Structure of

Paramagnetic Aggregates From Colloidal

Emulsions (InSPACE): InSPACE hardware is

being designed to be accommodated by the MSG.

Observations of three-dimensional microscopic

structures of magnetorheological fluids in a pulsed

magnetic field will be made. (First flight: Candidate

for 9A)

Coarsening of Solid-Liquid Mixtures-2:

This MSG investigation is designed to obtain data

on steady-state coarsening behavior of two-phase

mixtures in microgravity. For the first time, coarsening data with no adjustable parameters will be collected and then directly compared with theory. This

will allow a greater understanding of the factors

controlling the morphology of solid-liquid mixtures

during coarsening. (First flight: Candidate for ULF1)

Payloads that are planned and/or in development that have not yet been manifested are listed

below in alphabetical order.

Colloidal Disorder-Order Transition-2

Apparatus: This hardware fits in a glovebox and is

used to photograph samples of dispersions of very

fine particles as they form various crystalline or gel

structures. This hardware was flown previously on

USML–2 and STS-95.

Dynamic Studies of Cellular and

Dendritic Interface Pattern Formation: This

investigation is designed to provide a fundamental

scientific understanding of cellular and dendritic

microstructure formation under directional solidification conditions.

Observable Protein Crystal Growth

Apparatus (OPCGA): The OPCGA flight investigation hardware comprises three major components:

the mechanical system, the optical system, and the

video data acquisition and control system. The

OPCGA hardware also provides 96 individual

experiment cells with the capability to collect opti-
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MICROGRAVITY EXPERIMENT HARDWARE APPENDIX B 1 3

cal data on 72 cells.

Particle Engulfment and Pushing (PEP):

This investigation, which flew previously in the

Middeck Glovebox, will study the effects when two

nonmixing alloys (immiscibles such as oil and

water) are stirred and frozen in normal gravity and

then melted and resolidified in microgravity. PEP

will be conducted in the MSG.

Wetting Characteristics of Immiscibles

(WCI): The WCI investigation, which flew previously in the Middeck Glovebox, will study the

effects when two nonmixing alloys are stirred and

frozen in normal gravity and then melted and resolidified in microgravity. WCI will be conducted in

the MSG.

The Microgravity Research Program Office

currently has two candidate unpressurized payloads

in addition to the Low-Temperature Microgravity

Physics Facility. These payloads are described

below.

Primary Atomic Reference Clock in Space

(PARCS): The PARCS investigation will measure

various predictions of Einstein’s Theory of General

Relativity, including gravitational frequency shift

and the local position invariance on the rate of

clocks. PARCS will also achieve a realization of the

second (the fundamental unit of time, which is tied

to the energy difference between two atomic levels

in cesium) at an order of magnitude better than that

achievable on Earth.

Rubidium Atomic Clock Experiment

(RACE): The RACE investigation will interrogate

rubidium (87Rb) atoms one to two orders of magnitude more precisely than Earth-based systems,

achieving frequency uncertainties in the 10-16 to

10-17 range. RACE will improve clock tests of general relativity, advance clock limitation, and distribute accurate time and frequency from the ISS.

The following international payload is

planned to be flown on the ISS.

Facility for the Study of Crystal Growth

and of Fluids Near the Critical Point (DECLIC):

The DECLIC facility is being developed by the

French space agency (CNES) in cooperation with

Glenn Research Center to provide an autonomous or

teleoperated capability at middeck locker–scale to

accommodate research on high-pressure samples of

fluids near the critical point, transparent materials

systems during solidification, and other fluids

experiments that are compatible with available diagnostics. Through cooperative interagency agreements (negotiated but unsigned at the end of 1999),

NASA will provide launch, integration, and

resources for DECLIC and will share in the utilization of the facility.